A TREATISE 



HAT-MAKING AND FELTING?? 



INCLUDING A FULL 



EXPOSITION OF THE SINGULAR PROPERTIES 
OF FUR, WOOL, AND HAIR. 



r 

JOHN THOMSON, 

A PRACTICAL HATTER. 




PHILADELPHIA: 
HENRY CAREY BAIRD, 

INDUSTRIAL PUBLISHER, 
406 Walnut Street. 

LONDON: 
E. & F. N. SPON, 

48 Charing Cross. 

1868. 






Entered according to Act of Congress, in the year 1868, by 

HENRY CAREY BAIRD, 

in the Clerk's Office of the District Court of the United States in and for 
the Eastern District of Pennsylvania. 




PHILADELPHIA: 
COLLINS, PRIMER, 705 JAV.N'E STREET. 



CONTENTS 



Descriptions of furs, wools, hairs, &c. 






. 11 


The fulling mill ..... 






. 24 


History of hats and hatting 








. 25 


The fashions .... 








. 28 


Preparation of materials 








. 29 


Stiffening and water-proofing material. 








. 31 


The blowing machine 








. 35 


The manufacture of hats 








. 36 


Shaving ...... 








. 44 


Stiffening process 








. 44 


Puffing or napping 








. 45 


Blocking ..... 








. 47 


Dyeing 








. 47 


Pumicing or pouncing 








. 48 


Finishing ..... 








. 49 


Silk hatting .... 








. 52 


Forming machines 








. 56 


Shoes and gaiters of felt 








. GO 


Printer's sheets ..... 






-. 


. 61 


Cloth hats .... 








. 63 


Conclusion . ... 








. 65 



t 



TREATISE ON HAT-MAKING AND FELTING. 



It is conceded as an axiom, that theory and practice, 
in the pursuit of any object, are in their natures es- 
sentially different and distinct. But at the same time 
they long for a mutual understanding each to confirm 
the assertions of the other, the consummation of all 
practical results being the mutual embrace and per- 
fect reconciliation of these two attributes. 

The writer of these pages, being a practical hatter, 
desires to describe intelligibly his calling, dispensing 
with all technical terms, at the same time conscious 
of being liable to receive an unfair criticism from his 
brother tradesmen, although perfectly innocent on 
their part, resulting from the prejudices engendered 
by the many would-be secrets that pertain to the 
different work-shops, together with their various 
modes and methods of working, all of which most 
generally are but trifles merely to gain a name. 

The practice of a trade without a knowledge of the 
why and the wherefore of certain usages is a sad defect 
in any workman, but more especially in certain trades : 
Hatting being one of those which depends upon second 
causes for its proficiency, we venture here an explana- 
tion with perfect confidence, hoping that the fraternity 
of hatters will be indulgent, and that they may pro- 
fit by an experience of many years in the trade, 
and that for one error or omission in the writing of 



10 

these sheets they will find compensation in the new 
ideas that will spring from their perusal, which may 
be an incentive to further improvements in the busi- 
ness resulting beneficially to all. 

Theory without practice, or practice without theory, 
is like groping in the dark, and perfection in no trade 
can be attained till every effect can be traced to its 
cause, and vice versa. 

It is much to be regretted that practical operative 
workmen are so diffident in writing and publishing 
their experience in their several trades and occupa- 
tions, quietly permitting theorists ignorant of the 
business to glean as best they can from other parties 
the most intricate and complicated particulars of a 
trade, and hence the attempt to illustrate the most 
useful branches of an art often results in crude and 
even erroneous descriptions of things of the greatest 
moment, and the dissemination as correct, that which 
is altogether at variance with the truth. In confir- 
mation of the above, we may instance the manufac- 
ture of hats as described in a work of much merit, 
and which is accounted as worthy of all confidence, 
wherein the error above spoken of is but too plainly 
visible. Thus, in the supplement to the third edition 
of that most respectable work the Edinburgh " Encyclo- 
pedia Britannica," in the article Hat, an apology is 
made for the original treatise upon that subject, it 
being acknowledged as both defective and erroneous 
from the imperfect source of the information. Such 
a confession, and from such a source, sufficiently ex- 
onerates any one from egotism in an attempt to write 
a more perfect and correct description, coupling theory 
with practice ; relieving the felting process from its 
misty obscurity by a faithful expose of the whole sys- 



11 

tern : well knowing that an increase of business, like 
free trade, will be the result of a right understanding 
of a formerly supposed mystery, viz., the True cause 
of Felting. 

Felt and felted articles being already in use, in 
many trades in addition to that of hat-making, 
necessitates a general and indeed a very full and 
lucid description of the materials of which they are 
made. 

Descriptions of Furs, Wools, Hair, &e. 

Fur, properly speaking, signifies the skins of various 
species of animals, dressed in alum or some other 
preparation with the hair on, and made into articles 
of wearing apparel ; but the term fur also signifies the 
stuff that is cut from the skin, for the use of the hat- 
ter, and in this sense alone it will be employed in the 
following pages. 

Hair, wool, fur, and animal down are simply slender 
filaments or thread-like fibres issuing out of the pores 
of the skins of animals, and all partaking of the same 
general nature, such as great ductility, flexibility, 
elasticity, and tenacity, differing entirely from the 
vegetable wools and downs, such as cotton, &c, which 
contain neither of these four great characteristics to 
any valuable or appreciable extent. 

To characterize in a familiar way these several grades 
of material, it may be said that fur is distinguished 
from wool by its greater fineness and softness, and 
hair from wool by its straightness and stiffness. The 
nature of all these bearing some relation to each other, 
it will be necessary in this treatise to use the word 
hair occasionally to designate one and all of them, that 
word being most convenient, and tending to avoid 
confusion. 



12 

Simple as the idea may be, and though trifling in 
appearance, yet the study of a single hair is particu- 
larly interesting, both to the naturalist and the man 
of business, as will be seen when we mention a few 
of its many peculiarities ; hoping it will prove a source 
of enjoyment to the one and a profit to the other. 

Hair, wool, fur, &c, form quite an extraneous ap- 
pendage to the skin, or body producing them, not at 
all directly dependent on the life of the animal for 
their own existence, for they have been known to live 
and grow for some time after the death of the animal 
itself. We also know that they live, grow, and die, 
showing all the signs of youth, maturity, and old age. 
Hair possesses no sensation at any period of its ex- 
istence ; of itself it has no feeling of touch, nor has it 
the power of voluntary action. 

The growth of hair is peculiar as it projects and 
grows in length from the root, and not by the top as 
with vegetable productions, the lower portion lengthens 
out, and the top is merely projected forward; and 
when once cut, it never again resumes its tapering 
point. 

Hair or fur of whatever quality, consists of a single 
slender filament, without a branch or knot of any 
kind, and that filament is a tube, which is filled with a 
fat oil, the color of the hair being; derived from this oil. 

By the chemical analysis of hair it is found to con- 
sist of nine different substances : 1st, gelatine or animal 
matter, which constitutes its greater part ; 2d, a white 
concrete oil in small quantity ; 3d, another oil of a 
grayish-green color more abundant, these oils com- 
prising about one-fourth of the entire weight; 4th, a 
few particles of oxide of manganese; 5th, iron, the state 
of which in the hair is unknown; 6th, phosphate of lime; 



13 

7th, carbonate of lime in very small quantity ; 8th, 
silex in greater abundance; 9th, and lastly, a consider- 
able amount of sulphur — such is the constitution of all 
furs, wools, hair, &c, most of which may be dissolved 
in pure water heated to a temperature above 230° of 
Fahrenheit, by which it is partially decomposed. Hair 
is likewise soluble in alkalies, with which it forms soap. 
Chlorine gas immediately decomposes it, producing a 
viscid mass. 

It is worthy of particular remark, that of all animal 
products, hair is the one least liable to spontaneous 
change, evidence of which may be found in the fact that 
the Peruvian, Mexican, and Brazilian mummy hair 
is still perfect, and is supposed to be from 2500 to 
3000 years old, and stands the hygrometric test with 
equal firmness. From this we should suppose the 
body or substance of hair and wool to be exceedingly 
hard and solid, which is really the case, as no pressure 
has yet been applied sufficiently powerful to entirely 
deprive wool of the water with which it has been washed 
— the interstices between the fibres of the assemblage 
never having been closed by the power applied, as 
the water therein collected may still be drained off 
when the pressure is removed. 

Although hair is of a tubular construction, yet 
all varieties are not of a completely cylindrical form ; 
a curl is the result of all flat-sided or oval hairs, the 
exceeding oval being the unfailing characteristic of 
the negro race. A cross section of a hair, if circular, 
denotes the long, soft, and lank fibre of a cold northern 
animal ; but if the cross section shows an extreme 
flat-sided hair, that hair will be crisp and frizzled, and 
of a tropical extraction. Quite a gradual change in 
the form of the fibre of hair is observed in all animals as 



14 

we ascend from the equator to the highest latitudes, 
other things being equal. 

It has long been a desideratum how to discriminate 
between the various qualities of htittersfine furs, and 
no really reliable test has yet been obtained, superior 
to the judgment of the human eye, the fineness of fibre 
for the hatter being of most essential importance, par- 
ticularly that allotted for the flowing nap upon the 
outside of the hat. Although the thickness of the 
fibre of the finer furs has never been properly gauged, 
it will be a source of some satisfaction to know that 
the diameter of the human hair varies from the 250th 
to the 600th part of an inch, while the fibre of the 
coarsest wool is about the 500th and the finest about 
the 1500th part of an inch. 

Hair may be bleached on the grass like linen, after 
previous washing and steeping in a bleaching liquid, 
after which it may be dyed of any color. 

It is very doubtful whether the growth of hair can 
by any artificial means be expedited, or the hair itself 
increased in length, in quality, or in density. A fine 
field of enterprise would be opened for the fortunate 
inventor who could increase the produce of the finer 
and more expensive furs. In contradistinction to this, 
however, it may be stated that the inhabitants of some 
countries, the Malays, for instance, purposely destroy 
their hair by using quick-lime. 

We come next to describe minutely another pecu- 
liarity appertaining to hair, upon which all felting 
or shrinking of a fabric depends ; that grand secret 
that has been a mystery in all ages, until within a 
few years, or at best was only surmised. Upon this 
property alone depends the whole art of hatting and 
of felt making, whether in sheets or otherwise, as 



15 



well as the fulling of cloth and the shrinking of 
flannels, and all articles the material of which is made 
of wool, hair, or fur. 

As many branches of business depend for their suc- 
cess upon the non-shrinking quality of their goods, a 
study of the felting principle becomes quite appro- 
priate and interesting to those manufacturers, whilst 
perusing that of the opposite. Pulled wools, rather 
than cut or shorn wools, must always have the pre- 
ference with the one class of manufacturers; at the 
same time, the other class must adhere tenaciously to 
those which have been cut, the roots of the hair caus- 
ing all the difference, for that remarkable quality, the 
felting principle, is upon all the same whether pulled 
or cut. 

A few familiar facts dependent upon this inherent 
felting quality of hair will aid the illustration. 
When a hair is held by the top, it can be severed with 
a razor much more readily then if held by the root. 
Again, a hair held by the root, and drawn through 
between the finger and thumb, feels quite smooth, but 
when held by the top, a rough and tremulous motion 
is perceived. 

Again, place a hair of three or four inches in length 
by the middle, between the finger and thumb, and 
twirl it a few times, when the hair will be found to 
proceed towards one end, as the twirling and rubbing 
are continued, and invariably advancing root end fore- 
most, whichever way the hair is placed between the 
fingers. If two hairs are used in this example, lay 
the root of the one to the top of the other, their re- 
spective motions will be doubly discernible. 

The cause of all these singularities of the hair it is 
now designed to explain, which shall be done as ex- 



16 

plicitly and concisely as possible, with a few proofs 
of its astonishing power in a collective capacity. 

The above-mentioned phenomena are the result of 
that same long-hidden property, and which is nothing 
more than a certain clothing or covering, entirely sur- 
rounding the stem of every hair, in the form of very 
minute scales, so very minute, indeed, that it requires 
the aid of a very powerful microscope to enable the 
beholder to discern them, and even then but faintly. 
These scales, which cover thickly every filament of 
animal hair, wool, fur, &c, are thin pointed lamina, 
quite similar to the scales on a fish, and overlapping each 
other as do the shingles or slates upon a house. This 
state of the hair being understood, the modus operandi 
of the above examples may be thus explained : When 
the hair was held by the point, it was easily cut by the 
edge of the razor entering under the scales; but when 
held by the root, the instrument slipped smoothly 
over them ; and the hair that was drawn through the 
fingers, when held by the point, felt rough and tremu- 
lous, from the jagged points of the scales, but smooth 
when drawn in their own direction. 

The twirling of the hairs between the finger and 
thumb, resulting in their travelling motion, was on 
account of the points of the scales catching on the 
lingers, in the act of rubbing, similar to the heads of 
wheat or barley at harvest time which school-boys 
put into the sleeves of their coats, and which are sure 
to come out at some other extremity to that at which 
they were put in, caused by the working of the boy's 
arm upon the jaggy beard or awn of the barley head. 

The task of counting the number these lamina that 
clothe the body of these hairs, must have been both 
tedious and difficult, from their very minuteness and 



17 

profusion. On a single filament of merino wool, as 
many as 2400 barbed scales, like teeth, projecting 
from the centre stem, have been counted in the space 
of one inch. On Saxony wool there were 2700, while 
other wools were as low as 1860, and none were found 
to have so few as 1000 to the inch. 

No vegetable wools whatever, such as cotton, &c, 
have any such appendage upon their fibres, and, con- 
sequently, cotton or cotton goods never shrink in the 
act of washing, as woollen goods do. Cotton, therefore, 
never can become a suitable material for felting pur- 
poses, every fibre being smooth from end to end in 
either direction, and in contradistinction to fur, which, 
though equally smooth as the cotton in one way, 
rebels triumphantly when irritated in the contrary 
direction, as already described. Mechanically speak- 
ing, cotton is smooth, solid, and triangular, whilst wool 
is rough, tubular, and cylindrical. 

The grand cause of that mysterious and curious 
operation called felting, fulling, shrinking, thickening, 
and solidifying of a fabric, whether of original loose 
wool, fur, or other stuff, or of that spun into yarn 
and woven into cloth, is the presence of these scales. 

Till lately, the best operative hatter and the inves- 
tigating philosopher were equally at a loss to explain 
upon what principle such effects were produced. 
Take, for instance, a handful of wet fur or wool, which 
is merely an assemblage of hairs ; squeeze and press 
it, work it a little in 'the hand, and then observe the 
effect; for immediately upon pressing it a certain 
locomotion is thereby conferred upon every fibre of 
that assemblage, which is increased by every turn of 
position that is given to the body of wool. The roll- 
ing and pressing change the position of each fibre. 



18 

A friction is produced upon every member composing 
the mass : a footing as it were is obtained from the 
scales of each, and the fur or wool being all bent or 
curled, a progressive motion goes on, interlacing each 
other in their travels, resulting in a compact, dense 
body, which may well challenge the goddesses of 
both patience and perseverance to undo. Every hair 
has been travelling in its own individual direction, 
boring, warping, grasping, holding, and twisting 
amongst its fellows like a collection of live worms. 

The power of combination, like the fable of the 
bundle of sticks, is strikingly illustrated in the case 
of the hair, which when viewed singly seems so very 
insignificant, but collectively, and when pressed by 
the hand of oppression, hardship, and ill treatment, 
they combine and become strong and defiant, clasping 
each other in their embrace, tenaciously clinging to 
each other the more they are tortured, as if they 
were living rational beings, conscious of their inno- 
cence, and free from guilt. 

Stockings, for instance, that are knit with soft-spun 
wool, for the use of whale fishermen in northern lati- 
tudes, are large enough, when first formed, to hold the 
whole man, but are felted down to the required size 
in the falling mill, where they are battered, tossed 
about, and tortured to that degree that is required by 
their tormentors. The writer has seen a millful of 
these stockings whose sides were felted so firmly to- 
gether, from a neglect of the workmen to turn them in- 
side out, in due time, during the felting operation, that 
a knife was required to open them, and which actually 
failed in several instances, so firmly had their two 
sides grown together ; common tearing having no 
effect whatever, each and every single hair had em- 



19 

braced its neighbors, and their mutual action defied 
all attempts to open these stockings.* 

There are instances of ruminating animals having 
died from the effect of balls of hair having formed 
within their stomachs, hair by hair having accumulated 
while licking themselves with their tongues. These 
balls are all found to be as perfectly felted as the 
natural bend of the several hairs composing them 
would allow, the felting having been accomplished by 
the motions of the intestines of the animals. The 
disgorged balls from the stomachs of nocturnal fowls 
are all of the same nature. 

As has been said, felt may be made of any kind of 
animal fur, wool, or hair, provided it be bent, crimped, 
or curled, for if straight as a bristle it would work out 
of the mass as readily as into it, and lose itself in 
the operator's hands. 

All materials intended for felting must be cut from 
the pelt or skin, and not pulled, for the obvious reason 

* The most familiar instance of mutual association and combi- 
nation, resulting in real utility, though not so striking on account 
of our familiarity with it, is the broad-cloth of which our clothes 
are made, which when cut by the tailor will never unravel. This 
result is wholly the effect of its felting in the fulling mill during the 
operation of scouring and washing, every fibre of the wool of 
which the cloth is made, having clung to its immediate neighbors, 
both warp and weft, and with the spirit of true friendship they still 
remain in each other's embrace, and the cloth is transformed from 
a loose to a solid fabric. 

Another instance of the power of combination is the mysteri- 
ous Gordian knot that we read of in history, which promised the 
empire of the world to him who could unloose it, and which 
Alexander the Great is reported to have cut with his sword, 
because he failed in the attempt. If not a fabulous story, that 
compound knot the illustrious Gordius is supposed to have cun- 
ningly felted previous to hanging it up in the temple. 



20 



that a pulled hair invariably brings with it its root, 
in the form of a button or bulb, which would greatly 
impede its progressive motion in the act of working, 
as each and every hair under the operation of felting 
bores into and amongst the other filaments of the fur 
composing the mass, root end foremost, a sharp point 
therefore is obtained by cutting. This rule is uni- 
versally and invariably adopted by all hat furriers. 

Wool of any great length of staple, after being 
carded, is pressed, and either clipped, cut, or chopped 
into shorter lengths, which facilitates the felting 
operation, and improves the solidity of the felt that is 
produced.* 

The various materials most used in hat-making are 
the furs of the beaver, the otter, the rabbit, the hare, 
a species of the muskrat, a species of the monkey, a 
species of the seal, and a few others, together with 
Saxony and Spanish wools and the hair of camels and 
goats. Numerous as are these various names, most 
of the animals produce five or six different qualities 
of stuff, from particular parts of the same skin, varying 
greatly in price or value. 

The finest furs all come from those animals that 
inhabit the coldest climates, and the season of the 
year in which any of them are killed greatly influ- 
ences the quality of the fur ; a summer skin of some 
of these animals being comparatively valueless, how- 
ever excellent it might be in the winter season. And 
what is particularly worthy of the hatter's attention 

* The reason why wool and woollen goods felt and solidify 
more readily than any straight fibred furs, is owing to the natural 
curl or friz/le possessed by wool, each and every bend of every 
individual filament assuming an inclination for travel independent 
of each other and of the general inclination of the perfect fibre. 



21 

is, that fur that has been kept one or two years, after 
being cut from the skin, produces a better working, 
and a more solid article of felt, than fur from a 
newly-killed animal. The lamina of such fur seem 
to rise and erect themselves upon the stem of the hair 
by being kept, which may account for its better felting 
quality. This would appear to be confirmed by the 
well-known fact that the 5 lb. bags in which old fur 
stuffs have been kept are generally burst open. 

One or two properties peculiar to furs and wools 
may still be mentioned, as, for instance, all felting, by 
whatever means accomplished, necessitates either a 
damp or wet process with the aid of heat, and the 
facility of thickening or solidifying is accelerated by 
the application of soap to the material under the 
operation. Or the water may be acidulated for the 
same purpose with a little sulphuric acid, as either of 
these acts as a penetrating solvent upon the natural 
oil of the animal which still remains between the 
stem and lamina or scales of the hair, thus baring the 
barbed points of the crusty scales, the better to catch 
and hold their grip upon each other. 

Oil or grease, on the contrary, when applied directly 
upon wool, covers up these lamina or scales, thereby 
destroying their felting power, as is well known to all 
wool spinners, however little they may understand the 
real cause of its being so, further than the fact of giving 
to it a smooth gliding effect, so necessary for the object 
of their business. 

It may be amusing, whether true or not, to know 
that the rude Turcomans are said to dwell, even to 
this day, in tents covered with felt, which they make 
by treading with their feet the raw material of which 
it is made, whilst it lies upon the ground, thus favor- 



22 

ing the supposition that felting was invented prior to 
weaving. 

However, so far as we can learn, a real systematic 
method of felting is comparatively of a late date, and 
until within a few years felt has been chiefly employed 
for hats and hats alone. This is, however, now but a 
branch of the felt manufacture, for plaids, coats, vests, 
pants, leggings, shoes, gaiters, slippers, mittens, and 
caps, the covering of steam cylinders and boilers, 
carpets, polishing cushions for jewellers and marble 
cutters, covering for the roofs of houses which is 
afterwards waterproofed, as also linings of water-tight 
compartments in ships and ship sheathing, and the 
covering for the blocks of calico and other printing, 
&c. &c, are now made of this material. As the nature 
of hair and the principle upon which its felting pro- 
perty depends become better known, the manufacture 
of felt will be stimulated and increased, and applied 
to many purposes other than those above enumerated, 
and not imagined at the present time. 

The high price of the finer furs, resulting from the 
indiscriminate destruction of the animals which produce 
them, forms the only apology for the introduction of an 
inferior material into the body of the manufactured 
article. Cotton, which is of quite a limber nature, is 
too pliable, as indeed are all vegetable products when 
mixed with fur. They lie dead within the body of 
the mass, and if the labor be continued beyond a cer- 
tain time, the active principle of the fur will be seen 
to have clung to itself, leaving the cotton quite ex- 
posed on the outside. Even under the most perfect 
manipulation, a mixture of cotton, from its want of 
elasticity, will give a product which is to a correspond- 
ing degree deteriorated. 



23 

There was a time when beaver skins were bought 
from the natives, by the Hudson Bay Company, at 
the regular price of 14 skins for a gun, 7 for a pistol, 
2 for a shirt or one pair of stockings, 1 for a comb, 
or twelve needles, &c. &c, less than the hundredth 
part of their real value, and all the other fur-bearing 
skins belonging to that country were rated by that 
of the beaver. 

"The Scientific American" of New York for Dec. 1859 
says that, not much more than half a century ago, not 
a pound of fine wool was raised in the United States, 
in Great Britian, or in any other country except Spain. 
In the latter country the flocks were owned exclu- 
sively by the nobility, or by the Crown. In 1794, a 
small flock was sent to the Elector of Saxony, as a 
present from the King of Spain, whence came the en- 
tire product of Saxony wool now of such immense 
value. In 1809, during the second invasion of Spain 
by the French, some of the valuable crown flocks were 
sold to raise money. The American Consul at Lisbon, 
Mr. Jarvis, purchased fourteen hundred head, and 
sent them to this country. A portion of the pure un- 
mixed merino blood of these flocks is to be found in 
Vermont at this time. Such was the origin of the 
immense flocks of fine woolled sheep in the United 
States. 

The same authority further adds that the simplest 
and most easy method of judging of the quality of 
wools, is, to take a lock from a sheep's back and place 
it upon an inch rule ; if you can count from 30 to 33 
of the spirals or folds in the space of an inch, it equals 
in quality the finest Saxony wool grown. Of course 
as the number of spirals to the inch diminishes, the 
quality of the wool becomes relatively inferior. 



24 

Cotswold wool, and some other inferior wools, do not 
measure more than nine spirals to the inch. 

The Fulling Mill. 

Having alluded to the fulling mill as a felting 
machine, it is only necessary to remark here, that it 
is a rude looking but effective method of condensing 
a previously formed article. It consists of a trough 
six or eight feet long, and two feet wide, varying in 
size according to the kind of goods to be operated on. 
The bottom is of a semi-circular form, having a radius 
of five or six feet, with sides rising three or four feet 
high, a strong solid heading, but no end piece. 
There is a heavy wooden battering-ram suspended 
from above, at a height answering to the curve of the 
trough ; its immense head has a flat face fitting the 
trough in which it is made to play freely, similar to 
the pendulum of a clock. The goods are tumbled 
promiscuously into this trough in front of the ram, 
with warm water, fuller's earth, and soap, in sufficient 
quantity to saturate and wash the material, a small 
stream of water from a boiler being admitted for that 
purpose. The power of a water-wheel or steam 
engine draws back the ram out of its perpendicular, 
to its allotted distance, whence it falls by its own 
gravitj^, with a momentum that sweeps the goods 
before it with a fearful crash, upon the solid heading 
of the trough. On the withdrawal of this enormous 
hammer for a second onset, the goods roll over, re- 
suming their quiescent state, but differently disposed, 
which is no sooner done than back comes the ram, 
repeating its dashing blows upon its unoffending and 
unresisting victims in the trough, washing, scouring, 



25 

and buffeting them about, till they become not only 
clean, but completely felted. 

All of our broadcloths have been subjected to its 
action, in the process of which the hairs of the weft and 
those of the warp have become mutually entangled, 
and each with one another, as with hatting in the 
regular hand process of loose wool or fur felting. 
Indeed, every hair composing the whole piece of 
cloth has its individual and independent progressive 
motions, combining the threads of both warp and 
weft together to such an extent that these cloths 
never unravel, and no hemming of a garment is re- 
quired in the making of our clothes. 

Twelve hours in the mill will reduce a piece of 
cloth two-fifths of its breadth and one-third of its 
length. 

The progressive travelling motion of the hair re- 
sulting in the entanglement of the fibres and conse- 
quent felting and shrinking of the cloth, is further 
exemplified in the comfortable soft half-dress caps of 
the British soldiers, and in the bonnets and caps of 
the Scottish peasantry generally, which have all been 
first knitted very large with soft spun yarn, and after- 
wards felted down to the required size in the fulling 
mill. During the fulling of any and all kinds of 
goods, they must be frequently taken out of the 
trough, to be stretched, turned, the folds straightened, 
and generally inspected. 

History of Hats and Hatting. 

The word hat is of Saxon derivation, being the 
name of a well-known piece of dress worn upon the 
head by both sexes, but principally by the men, as a 
3 



26 

covering from the hot sun of summer, the cold of win- 
ter, a defence from the blows of battle, or for fashion. 
Being the most conspicuous article of dress, and sur- 
mounting all the rest, it has often been ornamented 
with showy plumes, and jewels, and with bands of 
gold, silver, &c. It is generally distinguished from a 
cap by its having a brim, which a cap has not, al- 
though there are exceptions even to this rule of dis- 
tinction, for there are hats that have no brims, and 
there are also caps that are provided with a margin. 
Those hats that are made of fur or wool have all been 
felted, and felt strictly speaking is a fabric manufac- 
tured by matting the fibres together, without the 
preliminary operation of either spinning or of weav- 
ing. 

We find but little of hat-making recorded in his- 
tory, and anything relating to hats is extremely mea- 
gre, although their partial use may be traced back to 
the time of ancient Greece amongst the Dorian tribes, 
probably as early as the age of Homer, when they 
were worn, although only by the better class of citi- 
zens when on a distant journey. The same custom 
prevailed among the Athenians, as is evident from 
some of the equestrian figures in the Elgin Marbles. 

The Romans used a bonnet or cap at their sacri- 
fices and festivals, but on a journey the hat with a 
brim was adopted. In the middle ages the bonnet 
or cap with a front was in use among the laity, w T hile 
the ecclesiastics wore hoods, or cowls. 

Pope Innocent, in the thirteenth century, allowed 
the cardinals the use of scarlet hats, and about the 
year 1440, the use of hats by persons on a journey 
appears to have been introduced into France, and 



27 

soon after became common in that country, whence 
probably it spread to the other European States. 

When Charles VII. of France made his triumph- 
ant entry into Rouen in 1440, he wore a felted hat. 

Hatters of the present clay most generously ascribe 
the honor of the invention of felting, and of its pros- 
pective introduction to that of hat-making, to the old 
renowned Monk St. Clement, who when marching 
at the head of his pilgrim army obtained some sheep's 
wool to put between the soles of his feet and the san- 
dals that he wore, which of course became matted 
into a solid piece. The old gentleman, philosophizing 
upon this circumstance, promulgated the idea of its 
future usefulness, and thus it is said arose the syste- 
matic art of felting and of hat-making. 

However all this may be, still the invention of 
felted fabrics for the use of man may have been, as 
some assert, very ancient and of quite uncertain origin. 
The simplicity of its make, as compared with that of 
woven cloth, shows all speculative assertions to be 
rather uncertain. 

However obscure the origin may be, we learn that 
the first authentic accounts of hatters appeared in the 
middle ages, in Nuremburg in 1360, in France in 
1380, in Bavaria in 1401, and in London in 1510. 

The hatting trade of the United States of America 
is noticed first in the representations made by the 
London Board of Trade to the House of Commons in 
the year 1732, in which they refer to the complaints 
of the London hatters, regarding the extent to which 
their particular manufacture was being carried at that 
time in New York and in the New England States. 



28 



The Fashions. 

A look at the fashions and mode of dressing in 
ancient times causes amusement. So capricious is 
the fancy of man that nothing is immutable, all is 
change, and hats have been of all conceivable shapes 
and colors, and dressed with the most fanciful deco- 
rations, plumes, jewels, silk-loops, rosettes, badges, 
gold and silver bands and loops, &c. &c. 

The crowns and brims having been in all possible 
styles from the earliest period. It would appear that 
nothing is left for the present and all coming time, 
but the revival of what has already been, even to 
the fantastical peaked crown that rose half a yard 
above the wearer's head. 

In the fifteenth century, hats in Great Britain 
were called vanities, and were all imported, costing 
twenty, thirty, and forty English shillings apiece, 
which were large sums of money at that early period. 

The most extreme broad brims were worn about 
the year 1700, shortly after which the three-cornered 
cocked hat came in, and about this time feathers 
ceased to be worn, the lingering remains being left 
for the badge of servitude to the gentleman's 
attendant. Metal bands and loops were only re- 
garded as proper for naval and military men of honor. 

It is a singular historical fact that the elegant soft 
hat of the Spaniard has remained the same from the 
earliest period to the present day, while among all 
other civilized nations a transformation in the style 
of that article has taken place. Comfort in the wear 
seems to have given place at all times to fancy and 
the demands of fashion. 

Queen Elizabeth's patent grant to the hatters of 



29 

London is still recognized in England, and the 23d of 
November is the hatters' annual festival, that being 
St. Clement's day, the patron of the trade. 

Preparation of Materials. 

Previous to cutting the fur from the various skins, 
they must be moistened, straightened, and cleaned ; 
the projecting long coarse hairs that are interspersed 
throughout the fur, removed either by pulling, clip- 
ping, or shearing; those of the rabbit, etc. being 
pulled, while those of the hare, etc. are clipped. To 
pull these superfluous hairs by the hand, the person 
sits with the skin laid over the knee, strapped down 
to the foot, and with a dull-edged knife in hand, the 
thumb being covered with a soft shield, the obnoxious 
guests are dextrously uprooted. If done by machinery, 
they are pulled out by being nipped between too re- 
volving slender rollers. The skin is drawn over a 
sharp-edged board, which causes these hairs to pro- 
ject, and the rolls placed in the proper position and 
distance, frees the fur of its deteriorating associates 
with great facility, without disturbing the fur. 

Furs intended for body-making undergo a process 
called carroting or secretage, which is an artificial 
method of increasing the felting quality of the fur, 
enabling the hatter to work at a kettle with clean 
pure water, dispensing with all acids and the like, 
and using boilers other than those of lead. 

It is only of late years that carroting has been 
invented. It is a chemical operation or method of 
twisting or bending the natural straight-haired furs, 
and possesses also the property of raising or lifting 
the points of the scales which clothe the fibres of 
the fur, thereby facilitating the operation of felting ; 



30 



while the fur in its original straight state could be 
used with satisfaction only as an outside flowing nap 
upon the hat. 

The method pursued to accomplish this result is, 
to dissolve 32 parts of quicksilver in 500 parts of 
common aqua-fortis, and dilute the solution with one 
half or two-thirds of its bulk of water according to the 
strength of the acid. The skin having been laid upon 
a table with the hair uppermost, a stout brush, slightly 
moistened with the mercurial solution, is passed over 
the smooth surface of the hairs with strong pressure. 
This application must be repeated several times in 
succession, till every part of the fur is equally touched, 
and till about two-thirds of the length of the hairs 
are moistened, or a little more should they be rigid. 
In order to aid this impregnation, the skins are laid 
together in pairs with the hairy sides in contact, and 
put in this state into the stove-room, and exposed to 
a heat in proportion to the weakness of the mercurial 
solution. The drying should be rapidly effected, as 
otherwise the concentration of the nitrate of mercury 
will not produce its effect in causing the retraction 
and curling of the hairs. 

No other acid or metallic solution but the above 
has been found to answer the desired purpose of the 
hat-maker, although sulphuric acid without the quick- 
silver has a limited effect when the skins are treated 
as those above described. For other purposes, such as 
that of the upholsterer, hair is curled by first boiling 
and then baking it in an oven ; or it may be spun 
into ropes and baked, after which it is teased asunder. 

Preparatory to cutting the fur from the pelt, the 
skins are dampened and flattened ; they are thus made 
smooth and ready for the operation, which is per- 



31 

formed by hand, with knives about two inches long by 
four wide, having a short upright handle. The skins 
are held upon a cutting-board, and the pelt kept 
moistened with water; a sheet of tin is laid upon the 
skin, pressed down by the left hand, whilst the knife 
in the right hand, being guided by the edge of the 
tin, is run rapidly forward and backward across the 
skin, gradually sliding the tin toward the tail ; by 
this means the fur is gathered up, and kept in one 
fleece. 

The pelts are appropriated to the manufacture of 
gilder's cement, or will make excellent glue. Machines 
in the form of revolving shears, similar to those used for 
dressing cloth, are employed for such skins as are un- 
even in the pelt, and which cut the pelt from the fur 
in slender shreds, being quite the reverse of the hand 
method, which cuts the fur from the pelt. 

Stiffening and Water-Proofing Materials. 

There is reason to suppose that when hats were 
first invented and long subsequently, the quantity of 
stuff or material weighed out for a single hat was of 
itself considered sufficient to stand unharmed the 
drenchings which it was likely to encounter. 

However, such a hat in the warm season being 
unpleasant, a lighter body was proposed, to contain 
some stiffening substance as a substitute, and the 
attempt proved quite successful. A search was in- 
stituted for something suitable for the purpose that 
would harden the hat sufficiently, without increasing 
the weight, but rather diminish it. 

In those times chemistry was comparatively un- 
known, and glue being at hand, our predecessors in 
the hatting trade commenced the stiffening of their 



32 

hats with that material, which long continued the 
only article likely to succeed. Latterly, however, glue 
has become quite obsolete, having been entirely super- 
seded by the various gums and resins, which, when pro- 
perly prepared, enable the manufacturer to put into 
the market a much superior hat, and one more pleasant 
to wear, weighing 3 oz. which in former times would 
have weighed full half a pound. 

The solubility of glue in water was its defect, and 
the ultimate cause of its rejection. Our spirited pre- 
decessors in the business, by a knowledge superior to 
that of their predecessors, coupled with a devoted spirit 
and unfailing resolution, after many vexatious trials 
but little known to our modern workers, succeeded in 
rendering a hat not only stout, light, and waterproof, 
but cheaper and more beautiful to look at, ventilated, 
and altogether pleasanter to wear. 

Upon a retrospective view, and considering the total 
of these improvements, we may well excuse the many 
secrets and partialities existing in the trade, for be- 
fore any new admixture of stiffening materials or 
method of applying them, whether before or after 
dyeing, &c, could be properly proved, many dozens of 
hats were under way. It required a length of time 
to enable a proper judgment of the experiment to be 
pronounced; thus, if unsuccessful, involving the cha- 
racter of the manufacturer as a tradesman, and his 
pecuniary affairs at the same time. 

The result, however, was at last satisfactory, and 
now there are several methods of stiffening with a 
water-proof stiff, which possesses all the requisite 
qualifications. 

There is no department in the hatting trade of 
more importance than that of stiffening, as the kind, 



33 

quality, and quantity of the stiff must be regulated 
according to the country in which the hats are to be 
worn. 

England, for instance, where there is so much 
moisture in the atmosphere, requires a much harder 
stiff than we do in America. American manufac- 
turers finding that shellac possesses every requisite 
for both stiffening and waterproofing, now for their best 
hats use that gum only dissolved in alcohol. 

20 lbs. orange shellac being dissolved with 5 gal- 
lons alcohol in a close vessel, cold, 

attending carefully to stir it up repeatedly to keep it 
from lumping and sticking to the bottom. The 
vessel commonly is used in the form of a barrel or 
some sort of churn. When fully melted the stiff is 
ready for use by being thinned down to the desired 
consistency with additional alcohol and put into the 
hat with a stiff brush. 

A cheaper, called alkali-stiff, and much used for in- 
ferior hats, is — 

9 lbs. shellac, dissolved with 18 oz. of sal soda in 
3 galls, water in a tin vessel. 

The vessel with the water is set into another contain- 
ing boiling water, and heated ; the soda is introduced 
gradually, and is soon dissolved, and the lac is then put 
in and stirred occasionally for about an hour, by 
which time the lac will be dissolved. The whole is 
then left for an hour or two, when it may be taken 
out and set to cool. It is better if allowed to remain 
a few days after having been made. When used, it 
is reduced to the required strength with more water, 
a hydrometer being employed as a test. 

The bodies are simply immersed in the liquor, and 



34 

passed between a pair of rollers one by one, thereby 
sweeping off the superfluous compound, but leaving 
them completely saturated. The hats with this stif- 
fening must be immediately and rapidly dried in the 
stove. 

This stiff is rendered the more popular by adding 
3 oz. of common salt to the mixture before using it, 
as the salt neutralizes the soda, and the hats may be 
blocked immediately after being stiffened, thereby 
saving time and dispensing with the use of the stove. 
The two following receipts are given as good and 
reliable English methods of stiffening hats : — 

7 lbs. of orange shellac. 

2 lbs. of gum sandarac. 

4 ozs. gum mastic. 

h lb. of amber resin. 

1 pint of solution of copal. 

1 gallon of alcohol or of wood naphtha. 
The lac, sandarac, mastic, and resin are dissolved in 
the spirit, and the solution of copal is added last. 

This is called spirit proof, and like our own is put 
into the body with a stiff brush, and, being full} 7 satu- 
rated, is set to dry. 

A cheaper stiffening, also like our own called alkali 
or water stiffening, is — 

7 lbs. of common black shellac. 

1 lb. amber rosin. 

4 ozs. gum thus. 

4 ozs. gum mastic. 

6 ozs. borax. 

? pint solution of copal. 
The borax is first dissolved in 1 gallon of warm water. 

This alkaline liquor is now put into a copper pan 



35 

heated by steam, or it may be set into another vessel 
containing boiling water, and the shellac, thus, and 
mastic added. This is allowed to boil for some time, 
more warm water being added occasionally, until it 
is of a proper consistence, which is known by a little 
practice. When the whole of the gums seem dissolved, 
half a pint of wood naphtha must be introduced, and 
also the solution of copal, the liquor should be passed 
through a fine sieve, when it will be perfectly clear 
and ready for use. This stiffening is used hot with 
the following preparations. 

The hat bodies, before they are stiffened, should be 
steeped in a weak solution of soda, to destroy any 
acid that may have been left in them. If sulphuric 
acid has been used in the making of the bodies, after 
they have been steeped in the alkaline solution they 
must be perfectly dried in the stove before the stiff- 
ening is applied. 

When stiffened and stoved, they should be steeped 
all night in water to which a small quantity of sul- 
phuric acid has been added. Tiiis sets the stiffening 
in the hat body and finishes the process. 

If the proof is required cheaper, more shellac and 
rosin may be introduced. 

The Blowing Machine. 

In the manufacture of the finest kinds of fur hats, 
namely, those with a flowing nap, the stuffs of which 
they are made must be thoroughly refined. 

The clipping and pulling operations, to which the 
skins were subjected previous to cutting off the fur, 
never free the fur entirely of the coarse hairs that are 
intermixed with the finer ; and to separate the coarse 
from the fine, the fur, as it came off the skin, is placed 



36 

under the action of the blowing machine, which consists 
of a long, close, narrow, wooden box, divided into a 
number of apartments, the divisions between each of 
them having an open space at the top or bottom, so 
that a blast of wind can be propelled through the whole 
length of the trunk. The fur is put into one of these 
receptacles at one end, where it is teased and tossed 
by revolving brushes set in the bottoms of several of 
them, and a revolving fan is placed at the head. 
The whole being set in motion by some first power, 
the blast of wind from the fan seizes the loose thrown 
up far that is tossed by the revolving breakers and 
brushes, and the stream of flying fur is transmitted 
from division to division, along the whole length of 
the wooden box. In this operation, the fur is graded 
as it is blown along and deposited gradually in the 
respective places, lodging in the most regular order, 
from the one end of the wooden trunk to the other, 
the dust and dirt falling down below, the heavier 
portion of fur not being blown to the same distance 
as that of the finer, which reaches the farther end, 
where the finest of all is received entirely refined of 
its impurities. But the cutting and blowing of fur 
are both independent and distinct branches of busi- 
ness, although relatively connected with that of 
hatting, and the various grades of fur are bought by 
the hatters from the professional hat furriers or their 
agents. 

The Manufacture of Hats. 

Before commencing a detail of the processes of the 
trade, it will be necessary to bear in mind that hat- 
ting is universally divided into two great divisions, 



37 

viz., the making, and the finishing departments, each 
of which as a matter of course has its subdivisions. 

With the exception of encyclopaedias which give 
detached and very abridged descriptions of felt 
making and of hatting generally, there has been no 
specific account published in either pamphlet or book- 
form, so far as the writer is aware, of the manner in 
which felt hats are made, or of the principle of felt- 
ing by which they are produced. 

This is considered by the writer a sufficient induce- 
ment to illustrate to the best of his ability a principle 
entirely belonging to natural history, viz., the natural 
scaly clothing that is upon all hair, and hitherto but 
little known, and upon which several important 
branches of business depend. Indeed, it seems almost 
absurd to think that a hair, puny as it is in itself, 
bears upon its sides a something of such importance, 
so very minute as to require the utmost attention 
with the aid of the best microscopes to be seen at all, 
and yet upon that something is based the art of felt- 
ing and of course of hat-making, besides several 
branches of other trades, some of which have already 
been mentioned. 

Hat-making was long considered a business to 
which machinery never cou.ld be applied, but the 
inventions of man have at last dispelled this illusion, 
and machinery is now employed in several of the 
most important departments of the trade. 

The reason why this idea obtained such general 
credence was, first, on account of the close attention 
requisite, while the hat is under the operation of sizing. 

Second, the known impossibility of napping or 
ruffing a hat by any means with machinery, also, the 
acknowledged failures of several attempts to substi- 



38 

tute carding for that of bowing, and various futile 
attempts with the irons in the finishing department. 

The innovations of machinery, however, have now 
obtained a sure footing in all large factories, and some 
of them will come under observation in their proper 
places. 

In the mean time we shall confine our observations 
to the old system, which still prevails in most small 
factories and all small towns. 

Our honest forefathers, the manufacturers in former 
times, would insist upon making hats to wear not for 
a season, as with us, but for many years, being afraid 
of damaging the trade to do otherwise, but now a 
hat for city wear, of scarcely three ounces weight, and 
lasting two or it may be three months, is quite a 
common thing. 

The usual quantity of stuff given out for a regular 
felt hat, modified of course to a very great extent by 
the market, we shall suppose to be three ounces of fur. 
It may or may not be a mixture of different kinds 
and qualities of stuff previously prepared by carrot- 
ing, and may or may not be refined by the winnowing 
machine, which separates the different qualities of fur. 
These three ounces, however, are sometimes increased 
by unprincipled men to four and a quarter or four 
and a half ounces, by the addition of other and cheaper 
ingredients, which are all laid upon a platform of 
boards about five feet square, called a hurdle, over 
which a large bow of about six feet long strung with 
cat-gut, Fig. 1, is suspended. This bow is held by the 
left hand of the hatter, and with the right he holds 
a small piece of wood with a head or knot upon it. 
Fig. 2, with which he tugs the string of the bow 
and makes it vibrate upon the stuff, and into it, with 



39 

great dexterity and with the nicest judgment. This 
operation has always been considered a beautiful sight 

Fig. 1. 




Hat Bow. 



to a stranger, as the performer goes on plucking the 
string, and the string playing upon the top of the fur, 




Bow-Piu. 

which lies upon the left hand side of the platform. 
The fur touched by the string is made to fly from one 
side of the boards to the other with the greatest regu- 
larity. So nicely is this bowing performed, the stuff 
flying from the bow-string hair by hair, and flake by 
flake, that a hat in this loose state may measure 
several inches in thickness. 

In this operation, the different materials are tossed 
about to-and-fro repeatedly, and mixed with a much 
greater regularity and change of position of the 
various filaments than if drawn by carding machinery. 
One half of the intended hat, called a bat, is bowed 
at a time, and both in nearly a triangular shape, which 
being gathered up, and pressed with a flat square piece 
of wicker-work, Fig. 3, and afterwards with a smooth 
skin or cloth, is pressed and gently rubbed with the 
hands backward and forward so as to create a friction 



40 



on the surface fibres, thereby interlacing the outside 
filaments, by which means the simply safe-lifting of 



Fig. 3. 



Tfffl 

Hat Basket. 

these two half-solidified portions of the future hat 
is secured. The one-half being laid upon the other, 
with a triangular piece of paper or cloth between, 
they are joined together by overlaping two of the 
three sides, thereby giving to the intended hat the 
form and figure of a hollow cone or great bag, but 
so tender that none but an experienced hatter could 
handle it. 

This operation of bowing is the same, with but 
little variation, whether it be for coarse or fine hats. 

If wholly of wool, they are now swaddled carefully 
in an outer cloth, and sprinkled with water, and laid 
upon a warm plate of metal which sends the steam 
up through the hat which is to be pressed, and 
slightly rubbed, sprinkled again, and turned over. 
Continuing the pressing and rubbing, and by repeat- 
ing these operations for some time, the motions are 
transmitted to all the inclosed fibres of wool with an 
irritating feeling, as it were, exciting their propensity 
for travelling, till the outer hairs, in their motions, 
warp themselves with each other and the surface 
appears skin-like and becomes smooth. 



41 



During these actions, the hat inside of the cloth 
must be several times changed in position and kept 
in proper form, when its swaddling envelope and the 
paper within which kept the inside open and free 
may be removed. These operations concluded, the 
tender hat must now be subjected to a much more 
laborious operation, where, properly speaking, the 
grand practical art of felting takes place, where 
thousands of thousands of filaments are all in active 
though slow motion, all travelling on their own indi- 
vidual course, independent of, and at the same time 
dependent upon, each other for their mutual support, 
being carefully guided collectively, by the hatter's 
good judgment. 

This stage of the operation is a wet one requiring 
an open boiler surrounded by planks, which slope to- 
wards the centre, called a battery, Fig. 4, suitable for 
six or eight men to work at. Each man is provided 
with a rolling-pin, cloths, brushes, etc. The soft and 
tender hat is laid upon one of these planks or benches, 



Fig. 4. 




Battery for Sizing Hats. 

wrapped in a damp cloth, and carefully wetted, squeezed, 
folded, rolled and unrolled, keeping it constantly 
moistened by dipping it in the hot water of the 



42 

boiler, folding and unfolding with every variety of 
crossings, rolling it as a scroll, pressing, shaking, 
dipping and rolling it again and again, the hatter all 
the while bending over his work in front of the 
almost boiling caldron, and surrounded by steam. He 
labors hard, ever changing the position of the hat 
under his hands, so as to make it an evenly felted 
and perfect piece of work, which these oft-repeated 
motions ultimately accomplish. 

This is the grand felting operation ; the cause of 
which was so long considered a mystery, and now 
ascertained to result from the peculiar natural con- 
struction of the animal fibre, as already explained. 

In this planking or sizing of the hat, sometimes with 
half a dozen under hands at the same time, the envelop- 
ing cloth is soon thrown aside as the hat grows in 
solidity. The hands of the hatter are defended from 
the scalding water by thick leather shields upon the 
palms, and as the hat approaches its proper size, it 
is scalded and belabored with determined importu- 
nity, coiled, rolled, pressed, and pinned, backward 
and forward till the size of the hat is reduced to 
nearly half of its original dimensions, and the tension 
of the several fibres becomes so great that the hat 
will felt no farther. At this stage it is impossible for 
it to be torn asunder, and is still in its original form 
of a hollow cone. 

Such is the making department of the trade, the 
felting process, where a firm piece of cloth (for such 
is the body of a hat) is manufactured from loose 
wool or fur, independent of either spinning or weav- 
ing. 

We have now explained the making of the bare 






43 

body, as it is called, of a plain hat, in as concise a 
manner as the subject will permit. 

There are yet a variety of qualities and kinds of 
hats requiring a variation more or less in the mani- 
pulation of the article, so as to suit a fanciful and 
fastidious people. For instance, the quantity and 
quality of fur, or an entire change of materials, pro- 
duce quite a different appearance both in the look, 
the wear, and the price of the hat, while the form of 
the cone must be changed to admit of a high or low 
crown, or of a broad or narrow brim, &c. &c. 

All felt hats, of whatever texture, nature, or name, 
must have undergone the above described operations, 
and many have to go back a second time to the plank 
kettle, and there undergo an additional teasing and 
ducking in the scalding water. For instance, all those 
destined to receive a coat of fur upon the outside 
finer than that of which the body is made, and con- 
stituting the flowing nap of the hat, which is merely 
a kind of veneering or outside plating, which will 
shorly be described. 

A very good hat is made having a flowing nap 
that is raised directly from the body itself. Thus 
when the body of such a hat as has been described 
is about half wrought up at the kettle, it undergoes 
in another department the operation of shaving, by 
which means the projecting coarse hairs are all cut off, 
after which, on being returned to the kettle, the hatter, 
with his stiff brush, card, and comb, raises a nap 
upon the half solidified body, which is constantly im- 
proved as he continues to manipulate with the brush. 
The hat is, at the same time, reduced in its dimen- 
sions by the operation of felting until at the conclusion 
when it appears of the desired size, fully felted, and 



44 

adorned on the outside with its rough and flowing 
nap, which otherwise would have been smooth and 
clothlike. This is called the brush hat. 

Shaving. 

In the process of fur felting there is a constant ten- 
dency for the strong straight hairs of the body to 
work to the outside, so that whether the hat is de- 
signed to receive a bare finish afterwards, or to set 
a plated cover of beaver for a nap, those bodies must, 
all undergo the operation of shaving. A workman sits 
in another apartment with one of them, when dry, 
spread over his knee, and with a long bladed sharp 
knife in hand, sweeps rapidly over the surface, cutting 
off and depriving it of those deteriorating superfluous 
intruders, after which the hats are forwarded to the 
stiffening department. 

Stiffening Process. 

The bodies of the hats now made, dried and shaved, 
and the spirit water-proofing already prepared, being 
thinned, or reduced to the proper consistence, the hat 
is laid upon a flat sloping board, and the stiffening is 
put into it with a stout brush, and soaked to that de- 
gree of saturation known only by experience, the 
brims receiving a double portion for extra stoutness, 
and are then set aside to dry. 

The alkali or inferior kind of stiffening, when used, 
is likewise diluted, and applied by immersing the body 
fully into the prepared ingredients already described, 
and either wrung out with the hands, or passed a 
couple of times between a pair of rollers set at a pro- 
per width, which determines the quantity of proofing 
absorbed by the hat. 



45 

It should be observed, regarding this stiffening of 
hats, that it is simply a varnishing of the several fi- 
bres of the fur of which the hat is made, each hair 
individually has got a coat of waterproofing varnish, 
for when dry it will be found that the interstices 
between each and every fibre are quite open and free, 
and therefore susceptible of ventilation ; thus differing 
entirely from what would have been the case had it 
been stiffened with any kind of paste. 

Ruffing or Napping. 

Very little of this is done at present in the United 
States. After the bare body of the hat is stiffened, if 
a flowing nap of beaver, otter, neutra, or other fine fur 
is desired, finer than that of which the body is made, 
half an ounce more or less of the superior uncarroted 
stuff is weighed out, sufficient to cover the whole out- 
side surface of the hat. The hatter lays this precious 
morsel with perhaps one-eighth ounce of cotton on the 
hurdle, under the bow, as he did with the stuff for the 
body, and with a similar but lighter instrument, these 
two stuffs are completely mixed and spread upon the 
boards, as evenly as his experienced hands can do it ; 
the cotton being used merely to enable him to handle 
the far, which otherwise would be so thinly spread, 
and so attenuated of itself, as to endanger the simple 
act of lifting it. This mixture of fur and cotton is 
next spread upon the wet bare body of the hat as it 
lies upon the plank at the kettle, a little water is 
sprinkled over it and beat down with a brush. The 
hat with this surface covering is wrapped very care- 
fully in a piece of cloth or coarse hair-cloth, and ope- 
rated on very lightly, and nearly in the same manner 
as when felting the body. The object to be attained 



46 

is to get the fibres of the fine fur to penetrate the body, 
and take root as it were therein — great care and 
watchfulness being demanded of the workman at every 
motion of his hands, in this manner of working. The 
points of the fibres of the beaver fur penetrate the 
body of the hat, and having once got a footing, it con- 
stantly advances, as the active careful rolling, folding 
and unfolding, shaking and tossing go on, until the 
fur has separated itself from the cotton ; by its bor- 
ing, having obtained a firm lodgment in the solid felt 
of the hat body root end foremost. The cotton with 
which it was mixed is left behind loose and useless, 
for want of the little rough scaly property that the 
other possessed. An inexperienced workman in thus 
ruffing a hat is liable to continue his work too long, 
until the beaver napping has burrowed quite through 
to the inside of the hat, where it is lost.* 

In the various operations of the hatter with hot 
water, whether in body-making, napping, or dyeing, 
&c, the water should not be allowed to boil, for 
independent of the damage to some kinds of stiffening, 
as hair contains a large portion of gelatine in its sub- 
stance (to which alone it owes its suppleness and tough- 
ness), this gelatine will be separated from the hair. 
This is particularly the case with napped hats, for 
when thus treated the fibre becomes much more 

* Hatters' kettles for fur hatting are made of copper, as they take 
less firing than those that are made of lead. But lead must be the 
metal if sulphuric acid, no matter in how small quantity, is used 
in the water. It is generally resorted to by the men in sizing 
wool hats, as it facilitates the felting operation. This acid 
(vitriol), having no affinity for lead, does not affect the kettle, while 
it would soon eat the one of copper through. Care, however, must 
be taken that no stone be let fall into the water of the lead kettle, 
for a hole will soon result from such an accident. 



47 



brittle than before, and the nap soon breaks off round 
the square. 

Fur hats having a flowing nap are sometimes clip- 
ped very short with revolving shears similar to those 
used in dressing cloth, and which is done previous to 
blocking or dyeing. 

Fig. 5. 




Hat Block. 



Blocking. 

Previous to dyeing, all hats must be blocked, using 
such blocks as approach the intended shape of the hat, 
and as soon as possible after the making department 
is concluded. It is a laborious operation, though sim- 
ple, as the nature of felt allows it to be stretched to a 
great extent in any direction when it is wet and hot. 

In the act of blocking, the conical form of the hat 
is lost for the first time. The hat is now immersed in 
the hotting water of the kettle, and while wet and hot 
the tip is stretched wide, and the whole thing simply 
drawn down over the block, a tight cord is run down 
to where the band is to be and the brim flattened 
out. 

Dyeing. 

The next operation is that of dyeing or coloring, 
and if convenient, and the hats fine, each hat should 
be upon its respective block when in the color kettle* 



48 

great care being observed to keep the square from 
abrasion, as the least rub may deprive a napped hat 
of its fur at that exposed and important part. Most 
generally, however, the hats are colored without a 
block, the blocking being performed as soon after the 
dyeing and washing as possible in boiling water. 

The ordinary ingredients for black are, for 12 dozen, 
144 lbs. of logwood, chipped, or its value in extract. 

12 lbs. of green sulphate of iron or copperas. 

7h lbs. of French verdigris. 
The kettle should never boil nor exceed 190 degrees, 
and during the operation the hats must be repeatedly 
taken out and exposed to the action of the oxygen of 
the air, so as to strike a deeper color, and during the 
necessary exposure to these airings, the time is im- 
proved by having two suits of hats going on at the 
same time. 

From six to twelve hours are required to complete 
the operation. The shorter the time the hats are 
in the dye, compatible with the deepness of the 
color, the better will be the goods, as boiling extracts 
the gelatine of the hair and makes the nap brittle, 
which is seen by comparing dyed articles with those 
that are of a native color. 

Pumicing or Pouncing. 

Pouncing is a term for rubbing down the outside 
of a hat with a piece of pumice stone, sand paper, or 
emery paper, whereby the hat is made entirely bare, 
smooth, and fine, resembling a piece of very fine 
cloth. These are generally called cassimere hats. 
This operation is usually performed after dyeing, and 
previous to finishing. Some makers, however, pre- 
fer to singe the hats instead of pouncing, but such 



49 

hats never feel so fine as the others, as the singing 
of any hair invariably produces a hard crisp burnt 
knob upon the end. 

Finishing.* 

When a hat arrives at that state of forwardness 
ready for finishing, it is a very unsightly object to 
any person but a hatter. Most of its processes have 
been wet ones, but now it is to assume a genteel and 
prepossessing appearance, under the artistic appli- 
ances of brushes, cloths, hot irons, and labored ex- 
ercise. If a plain soft hat, it is pulled over such a 

Fig. 6. 




Hat Iron. 

block as is required, a cord is run round the hat to 
keep it tight upon the block; the tip and brim are 
then flattened with the hot iron, wet sponge, brushes, 
and hair-cloth cushion or velure, several wettings 
being necessary in finishing. 

The brim is next cut to the required width, and 
the cord run down to the depth of the block. The 

* As every hat must be finished upon a block of some particular 
form, upon which the bat assumes the exact counterpart, it 
becomes necessary with those having broad tops, that the block be 
in five separate pieces, so as to get them out or into the hat, the 
centre piece acting as a wedge to the whole. 



50 

side-crown is now to be finished, along with the tip 
and upper and under sides of the brim, the hatter 
exercising his best judgment. The block is then 
withdrawn, the brim curled and set, and the finished 
hat sent off to the trimmer to get lined and bound ; it 
is then tipped off* and packed for market. 

The finishing of this kind of hat is a simple opera- 
tion when compared to that of a napped hat ; requir- 
ing only the assuming of the proper shape and form, 
the solidifying of the body, and giving it such a 
lustre and finish as the quality of the material will 
allow. 

The stiff cassimere hat being less flexible, is sub- 
jected to hot steam preparatory to blocking, whereby 
it is made soft and pliable. When in this state it is 
drawn down over the block, and the block withdrawn, 
to insert a prepared disk of pasteboard into the crown 
for strength, after which it is finished much in the 
same way as that already described, but with the dif- 
ference, that a cloth must always intervene between 
the hot iron and the hat when finishing. 

The finishing of a napped hat, whether it be brush 
or beaver, is a very different process from that for 
either of those just described, requiring the nicest 
attention and patient perseverance by the best 
workmen. The hats are given out by the half 
dozen, which are sorted for the different sizes and 
steamed one by one ; the hot steam softens the stiffen- 
ing, and when pliable, the hat is drawn down over 
the respective finishing blocks, the nap of each hat 
straightened with a wet brush, and a half finish given 
to it with the water, brush, and bare hot iron. The 
block is then withdrawn and the hat given to be 
shaved with a razor. This seems a singular operation ; 



51 

but a few passes with that instrument over the hat 
effectually cut off all those projecting coarse hairs 
that have eluded all previous attempts at removal, 
and without in the smallest degree endangering the 
finer fur of the nap. The hat is now returned to the 
finisher to complete the process. 

These coarse hairs, when left in the hat depreciating 
very materially its value, were formerly plucked out 
by hand with a pair of pickers, hair by hair, often to 
the injury of the hat. The advantage of the razor 
will be obvious to all. 

A pasteboard disk, well spread with dissolved 
shellac, is now inserted into the tip, and the block 
reset. The workman with his hot iron, wet and dry 
brushes, &c, lays down the nap in its proper direc- 
tion, and the hat by continuous labor becomes solidi- 
fied and more elastic, the tip is rendered stout by the 
adhesion of the prepared inside disk ; and by the 
repeated wettings, and careful ironings and brush- 
ings, all the ripply appearance of the fur is destroyed, 
and the whole surface becomes smooth and shining. 

The crown being finished is then papered up, and 
the same operations that were bestowed upon the 
crown are now to be repeated on the brim, both on 
the upper and under side, which having been accom- 
plished, a gauge is applied and the brim cut to the 
required width ready for the trimming. 

There is a beautiful invention for preserving the 
form of all hats having flat or soft supple brims by 
means of a flattened wire, upon which two small 
twists are made, and when joined as a hoop, the 
proper concave is produced. This hoop is attached 
to the outer edge of the brim, and covered with the 
binding, and thus the unsightly slouch that often 



52 

deformed, particularly the soft brimmed hat, is per- 
manently prevented, and the graceful curve com- 
pletely secured. 

Silk Hatting. 

The art of silk hatting is comparatively of modern 
invention, consisting simply of a cover of silk plush 
over a body of some other material. As much sleight 
of hand is required in this department, it naturally 
follows that a good workman is a valuable and appre- 
ciated artisan. 

The bodies used for this kind of hat have been so 
various, that a full, or even succinct, description of 
them would be quite superfluous. Wool and fur 
bodies, straw and leghorn, cork, whalebone and 
muslin, &c, even stretchers similar to umbrellas with- 
out a body at all have been adopted, and all of them 
have had their day. At present, however, the trade 
seems to have settled down to the two kinds — fur and 
muslin. 

The fur body of a silk hat, called a shell previous 
to coming into the hands of the silk finisher, is made 
much in the same manner as that of a plain soft hat, 
by felting and sizing it down to the proper dimen- 
sions in the plank kettle. It is quite light and thin, 
and when blocked or otherwise, and dried, is then 
ready for stiffening by the finisher. 

The different substances for this purpose, and the 
various methods of doing it, have been as numerous 
as the varieties of bodies that have been adopted. 
The whole of them, however, now have been abandoned 
for shellac. 

The most simple and the best stiffening for any hat 
is shellac dissolved in alcohol, and thinned down to 



53 

a proper consistence. A cheaper, however, and at the 
same time good stiffening, is the ammonia stiff already 
described. Either of these is applied in a like manner 
and with the like operations. The soft body or shell, 
as it is often called, is immersed in the liquid in a basin, 
then wrung out and pulled upon a block, the brim 
being flattened, a brush is dipped into another ves el 
containing a thicker lac, and applied to the square 
and brim for extra strength ; after this the block is 
withdrawn, and the body set to dry. 

These felted bodies or shells, as they are called, 
when dry are steamed generally over the hatter's hot 
iron, and pulled when warm and soft over the finish- 
ing block. A cord is then run tight round the shell, 
and the block withdrawn ; the prepared pasteboard 
tip is inserted into the crown, and the block reset; 
after which the body receives a regular hot ironing 
all over. In this operation the inserted tip adheres 
to the felt, and the whole body assumes the exact 
counterpart of the block, both crown and brim. The 
rough hairs are now to be removed by sand or emery 
paper and the block withdrawn. The body next 
receives a coat of the best size, and when dry two coats 
of seed-lac, or copal varnish which finishes the making 
of this kind of body. 

Those bodies that are made of muslin, when first 
invented, were called gossamer, from their extreme 
lightness, and though they have increased in weight, 
they still retain the name of gossamer hats. 

In preparing for the body, a few yards of muslin 
are extended upon a frame, and saturated with lique- 
fied shellac, or water stiff, which when dry is cut 
bias into strips for sides, tips, and brims. One side 
of these side and tip pieces of muslin is overlaid with 



54 

the silk intended for the inside lining of the hat, and 
pressed to adhesion ; or this may be done while in the 
web before being cut into strips. The block being 
set upon the bottom-board, one of these extra pre- 
pared sides is wound tight round the side-crown of 
it, and the two ends stuck together by overlapping. 
A piece of the prepared tips is next laid on, and 
made to adhere to the side-crown. 

The brim consists of three thicknesses of stout mus- 
lin of a circular form, each with a hole in the centre, 
all of which are slipped over the crown down to their 
place of destination with a quarter of an inch of 
the edge rising up on the side. A second side-crown 
and another tip are now applied, covering the others, 
and the whole of these cemented together with 
the hot iron, the shellac with which they were 
stiffened acting as a cement. After receiving a coat 
of size and one of varnish, this body will be ready, 
like the other fur body, for the finisher. In prepar- 
ing these bodies, cover the block with a soft shell. 

Before commencing the finishing, however, we will 
describe the sewing of the silk plush cover, which is 
quite a nice and particular piece of work. The strip 
of plush for the side-crown is cut from the web bias and 
of a width the depth of the intended hat ; the tip piece 
which is to mate this side-crown is of course circular, 
and a quarter of an inch larger all round than the 
tip of the hat. These two pieces are to be sewed 
together by hand face to face, the edges being folded 
back, and the plush put well through to the proper 
side with the needle as the sewers proceed, so that 
the seam when the hat is finished may not appear 
bare for want of plush. 

In finishing, whether the hat body be of fur or 



55 

gossamer, the first thing is the putting on of the un- 
der brim, which we shall suppose to be plush, satin, 
or merino. A strip is cut from the web or piece at 
about an angle of forty-five degrees, and having the 
length reduced to suit the size of the hat ; the two ends 
are then sewed together, and having been laid on the 
hat, one of the edges is made fast to the edge of the 
brim with the iron, all round, and smoothly laid down, 
the bias allowing this to be done by stretching. It is 
next to be steamed with a damp cloth under the hot 
iron and the inner edge stuck inside of the hat with 
the nose of the iron. 

The upper brim is next in order. A strip of silk 
plush the requisite width is run on, slightly, in much 
the same manner as with the under brim, but dis- 
pensing with both the cloth-steaming and often with 
the sewing. The one end of this upper brim being 
cut with the scissors and the other with the knife, a 
good invisible seam may be made. 

The brims being now on, the tip of the hat is wetted 
inside, and the block put in. The silk plush cover, 
having been previously spread with gum tragacanth, 
about where the side seam is likely to be, and now 
dry, is carefully drawn over the crown and fitted to 
the hat ; the two ends of the cover being folded 
back and marked for the seam. The cover is then 
removed, the plush brushed back at the folding, and 
the cloth cut for the seam with a pair of sharp scis- 
sors ; the top of the seam is cleaned or dressed off and 
the cover replaced on the hat body. The tip and 
side crown are now to be stuck with the hot iron to 
the body with particular care, so as to make a good 
joining at the seam, and not to draw through the 



56 



varnish. The making of a good seam is the test of a 
good workman. 

The dressing and polishing of the hat now com- 
mence; and while it remains upon the block, this is 
done by means of brushes, wettings, ironings, etc., 
once, twice, or three times in succession, after which 
it is fixed on the veluring machine where it is re- 
volved rapidly, for the purpose of freeing the nap of 
all impurities by means of the hair-cloth velures that 
are applied. 

The hat is next taken back to the bench, where it 
receives its final dry -ironing, veluring, etc., and the 
crown is papered up. 

The brim is yet to be finished, which is done by 
hand, with the brushes, sponge, iron, etc., and made 
to shine like the crown ; after this it is given to the 
trimmer to be trimmed and bound, when it comes 
back to be curled and properly shaped in the brim, 
suiting the taste of the wearer. The workman who 
gives the hat its final touches makes use of a number 
of tools, which, though of seemingly trifling appear- 
ance, are nevertheless necessary for his department, 
which requires a refined taste. 

Forming Machines. 

Such is hat-making, but we cannot conclude with- 
out remarking that there have been many patents 
granted in this and other countries for improvements 
in hatting, that we cannot notice. Nevertheless 
there are two, of decided merit, claiming attention, 
as having entirely revolutionized one-half of the 
making department, and which may be modified and 
extended to answer many purposes, in addition to 
that of hat-makinsx. 



07 




0q" 



58 

The first and most ingenious is called the pneu- 
matic process of forming the bodies, hence in all large 
cities the bowing operation is not employed. It is 
as follows : A cone of sheet copper punched full of 
small holes, and set upright, revolves slowly upon 
its axis ; beneath this or attached to it an exhausting 
fan is placed, causing by its rotation a current of air 
to draw through the holes from the outside. A trunk 
or box with an opening facing against this revolv- 
ing cone, discharges the fur which is fed into it at 
the other end by a feeding apron, in quantity just 
sufficient for one hat-body. It is drawn into this 
trunk between two rollers that are covered with 
leather or felt, and immediately seized by a cylinder 
revolving about four hundred times in a minute, fur- 
nished with a number of stiff brushes. This gene- 
rates a current of air which scatters the fur and blows 
it out of the mouth of the trunk, where floating in the 
air it is speedily drawn upon the perforated cone, and 
evenly spread over the top and sides of the same, in 
quantity enough for one hat-body in so many revolu- 
tions. The discharging trunk is so adjusted that any 
desired quantity of fur can be deposited on any parti- 
cular portion of the cone. When the cone has got the 
fur for one hat-body, the workman wraps over it a wet 
cloth and slips a metallic cover over the whole, which 
he removes into a tank of hot water. A new cone 
is immediately set in its place to receive another 
coating of fur. The hot water into which it has been 
dipped tends to make the mat more tenacious, which 
is next slipped off the cone, taken to a table, gently 
worked by hand-rolling in a piece of blanket, squeezed 
and pressed, and folded into a convenient shape and 



59 

sent to the regular hatter to be felted at the ordinary 
plank kettle. 

The cost of hat-bodies is reduced, it is computed, 
by this process as five or six to one of the old bowing 
system, and the rapidity of production is as thirty to 
one. 

It will not have escaped observation that this inge- 
nious piece of machinery is applicable only for fur, 
the filaments of which are short and less inclined to 
tangle than those of wool, but another and no less 
useful piece of mechanism has been invented for 
forming the bodies of wool hats, and like the other 
has entirely superseded the use of the bow in all 
lame factories where wool hats are made. It consists 
of a modified common carding machine, the sliver 
from which is conducted to a set of double conical 
blocks that are placed base to base, and which slowly 
revolve upon their axes in front of the carding 
machine, and the sliver is received and wound upon 
these combined blocks to the required thickness, 



Fig. 8. 




Forming Machine for Wool Hat Bodies. 

sufficient for one hat, both blocks being covered at 
the same time. This machine which carries the 
blocks has a horizontal vibratory motion, or swaying 
backwards and forwards, that enables the sliver to 



60 

be wound in a systematic manner on the cones, with 
a varied thickness of material for brims and crowns, 
and causing also the fibres of the wool to lie in a 
diagonal position, as layer upon layer covers the 
blocks. The bodies of the two hats, each of a coni- 
cal figure, are thus made over the surface of a double 
cone which are separated by cutting them along their 
middle or base line, and slipping them off at the end. 
They are now ready to be wetted, shrunk, and felted 
in the usual manner by the regular hatter. 

Shoes and Gaiters of Felt. 

We will here describe the making of felted gaiters 
and shoes, which is similar to the art of hatting. 
There may be other and better methods, as the ex- 
pansive stretching nature of felt may admit of other 
modes. 

The wearer of these gaiters may walk upon the 
slippery pavement with comfort and full confidence, 
and if furnished with a leather or rubber under-sole, 
they are a neat, easy, comfortable cover for the feet. 

A given quantity of wool calculated for one pair of 
shoes is weighed out, which is divided into four equal 
portions, two of them for each shoe. One at a time 
is laid upon the hurdle, and with the proper bow it is 
bowed as if for a hat, and disposed of in exactly an 
equilateral triangle, which being gathered together 
with the basket, is pressed, and temporarily solidified, 
laid aside, and the other portion treated in the same 
manner. A piece of coarse brown paper is now folded 
into a triangular shape, a little smaller than the bats 
just bowed ; all the three edges are to be folded together 
with the paper inclosed. The use of the inclosed 
paper is to prevent the inner surfaces from felting to- 



61 

gether, and to keep the inside open. The intended 
shoe is next lapped in a sheet of cloth, and hardened 
at the hot basin (the basin is a disk of solid iron with 
a fire beneath). Water sprinkled on the sheet when 
turned upon the basin, sends steam all through the 
mass, and when rubbed slightly by hand, friction is 
communicated to the surface fibres, which in a short 
time become smooth, when the position of the trian- 
gular wool should be changed and the rubbing con- 
tinued. A few crossings and rubbings give it a con- 
sistence sufficient for handling at the plank kettle, 
where we shall suppose both shoes to have arrived. 

The felting operation at the kettle is performed in 
quite the same manner as that of a hat, by pressing, 
rolling, folding, and unfolding, &c, with its dippings 
into the hot water, until the material has assumed a 
hardness and solidity quite astonishing to the casual 
observer. 

This operation finished, the shoe still in the trian- 
gular shape, one corner is now to be cut off to make an 
opening, and the confined paper taken out, which is 
quite a soggy spongy lump of pulp. The mate to this 
shoe having been advanced to the same forwardness, 
they are to be pulled upon their respective lasts and 
dried, and perhaps dyed, after which they are pounced, 
and finally trimmed. 

Printers' Sheets. 

The making of sheet felt for calico and other printers 
is a business that fell into the hands of the hatters at 
the introduction of the waterproofing of hats, as pre- 
vious to that time the thick stout old hats of former 
times were quite sufficiently thick for the fittings of 
their blocks, so that when no more of them could be 

5* 



62 

gotten, recourse was had to the new article, although 
it should be at a slight sacrifice. 

Felt is employed in this business because of the fa- 
cility with which it lifts and carries from the color 
sieve, the colors that are to be applied to the cloth. 
Wood and Copper blocks or rollers require two diffe- 
rent thicknesses of felt, and though various qualities 
are made, a solid body and clear smooth surface and 
edge when cut and pounced by the block-cutter, are 
absolutely necessary, as otherwise, a ragged edge to 
the printed figures on the cloth will be the result. 

The following makes a very good article: — 

7 ozs. best backs of coney wool, and 
6 ozs. of Saxony lamb's wool. 

The coney is first well broken over with a light bow, 
upon the hurdle, and then by means of the heavier 
wool bow, the well-carded Saxony is intimately mixed 
with it. This thoroughly accomplished, the whole is 
to be divided into two portions ; the one a little heavier 
than the other, which is laid upon the hurdle, and with 
the same wool bow, strung with stouter cat-gut, the hat- 
ter disposes of the mixture in a perfectly even flat 
form, of an oblong square, which when gathered by the 
hatter's basket, measures 18 inches wide by 3 feet 
long. A cloth is then spread over it, and the whole 
turned upside down ; the sides and ends of the cloth 
are lapped over, so that this bat as it is called is com- 
pletely enveloped. A stiff skin is now thrown over 
it, and pressed and rubbed for some time in an even 
manner, to reduce its thickness. The skin having 
been removed, the sheet with its bat is rolled and 
pressed still more, then laid aside while the other 
half undergoes exactly the same operation, but is made 
three inches shorter in length. 



63 

These two sheets, which are destined to form but 
one, are connected thus. The shorter is first folded 
over upon itself, and the two ends joined by overlap- 
ping with a proper inlayer of paper ; then the larger 
bat is laid upon this one, and the whole turned upside 
down, so that the joinings of the two bats will be 
upon opposite sides of the sheet of felt. After these 
joinings are carefully made, the would-be sheet ap- 
pears exactly like a lady's muff, and is again to be 
enveloped in the cloth, for the hardening process, at 
the hot basin, where it receives a partial steanling, 
rubbing, re-folding, &c, till finally it is carried to the 
plank kettle, where the severest labor must be applied ; 
the object being to condense the materials of which it 
is made to the utmost degree of tension. It is then 
cut open, dried, and receives an application of a weak 
solution of size ; when again dry it is well pounced 
with pumice stone, and the edges cut straight, which 
finishes a first class printers' sheet of felt, the size being 
33 or 33i inches long by 12 inches wide. Sheets for 
copper blocks or rollers require a thickness of a quar- 
ter of an inch, and those for wood three-sixteenths of 
an inch. Some prefer a sheet altogether of Saxony 
wool. 

Cloth Hats. 

After the introduction of gutta-percha into the arts, 
and the manufacture of it into thin sheeting, a new 
kind of hat was introduced, made of gutta-percha 
cloth, and from the variety of shades, &c. seemed for 
some time to supersede the soft low-crowned felt 
article. But the cupidity of some of the manufacturers 
destroyed the business almost entirely when in its 
infancy, some say purposely, by making them so very 



64 

inferior and at the same time so perfect a counterfeit, 
that the really good and perfectly made hat became 
universally distrusted, and hence the result. 

We shall refrain from all notice of the methods em- 
ployed tending to this deterioration of the new article, 
and merely describe the making of the honest, sound, 
and valid hat, the revival or resuscitation of which 
is well worthy of consideration. 

A dry, thin, and soft fur or wool body is to be drawn 
upon the proper block, generally 3 or 4 inches deep 
with either a square or round crown, and the brim 
spread out upon the bench or bottom board. A cir- 
cular piece of gutta-percha gum the size of the in- 
tended brim, having its centre cut out, is to be slip- 
ped over the crown down on to the felt brim ; a 
similar piece of good cloth is likewise slipped over 
in the same manner to cover the gum, and now the 
extreme outer edges of the felt and cloth are to be 
carefully cemented together by means of the gum, 
bypassing round a hot iron. The usual' stirrup or 
bridle is then thrown over the hat, girding the inner 
edge of the cloth to the block, and stuck with the 
heel of the iron. This partially stuck brim is finally 
overlaid with a wet loose brim-cloth and properly 
ironed, the heat of the steam from the damp cloth 
softens the gutta-percha gum and effects the adhesion 
of the cloth to the fur body. About half an inch of 
cloth will project up on the side crown, which is also 
made to adhere to the felt body by the heated iron. 

The block is now to be withdrawn, and the hat 
turned inside out, which reverses this would-be upper 
brim to the under side. The hat is next to be re- 
blocked, a repetition of the gum and cloth is to be 
applied to this side of the brim exactly as with the 



65 

other, and then succeeds the covering of the crown, 
which is to be wholly laid over first with the gutta- 
percha and then with the previously prepared cloth 
cover as a crown piece, these being held tight by means 
of the blocking-cord. The whole crown, both tip and 
sides, is to be cemented and finished, never omitting 
the wet finishing-cloth between the hat and the hot 
iron, and the hat is now complete and ready for 
lining and trimming. 

The above makes a good soft pliable cloth hat. 
But if a stifier and firmer hat is wanted of the same 
material, the felt body is to be put through the pro- 
cess of the alkaline bath, similar to that of fur hats, 
and when dry, proceeded with as above. 

Another method of making these cloth hats is to 
dispense with the fur body entirely, the block being 
covered with two thicknesses of cloth and having a 
ply of gutta-percha gum between, which are cemented 
together by steaming and pressing, using at all times 
a wet cloth under the hot iron. The brim is separate 
and distinct from the crown when made, and consists 
of a piece of thick wool padding, which is to be covered 
on both sides with the proper cloth, cemented 
together with the gum, first one side and then the 
other, after which the crown and brim are sewed to- 
gether. 

In all these cases, the gutta-percha gum acts not 
only as a cement but also a water-proofing to the hat. 

Conclusion. 

In this treatise upon the history of hats and hat- 
making, of furs, wools, &c, and the manufacture of 
felt, we are well aware of the impossibility of illustrat- 
ing in full the hatting trade of America, as this coun- 



66 

try stands alone as compared with others, on account 
of the mixed population that is here collected. As 
we have representatives in this, as in every other line of 
business, from every civilized nation upon earth, with 
all their various methods of working in their own ac- 
customed ways, the prejudices naturally engendered 
and entertained through habit being hard to combat, 
so that the judges of this work may be numerous and 
various, and no doubt profusely severe in some of their 
criticisms. 

But there is going on a rapid amalgamation of all 
that is best in the trade of hatting, resulting from the 
continued flow of immigration, and heightened greatly 
by the wanderings of hatters generally, from shop to 
shop, and from town to town, that must ultimately 
bring together in this our beloved land, a perfection 
in the trade that cannot be attained by any other 
nation. 



INDEX. 



Acid aids fulling, 21 
Alkali stiff, 33 
Anatysis of hair, 12 
Ancient hats, 26 

Basket, hat, 40 

Battery for sizing, 41 

Bleaching of hair, 14 

Block for hats, 47 

Blocking, 47 

Blowing machine, 35 

Body making, 41 

Bowing, 39 

Bow-pin, 39 

Broadcloth, properties of, 19 

Cardinal's hats, 26 
Carroting, 29 
Cassimere hats, 48 
Chemical analysis of hair, 12 
Cloth hats, 63 
Coloring, 47 
Conclusion, 65 
Construction of hair, 16 
Cotton, why it does not felt, 17 

Description of furs, wools, hair, &c.,ll 
Dressing, 56 
Dyeing, 47 
Dyes, 48 

Elizabeth, Queen, patent, 28 

Familiar proofs of felting, 17 
Fashions, 28 
Felting, 14 

familiar proofs of, 17 

inventor of, 27 

when invented, 22 
Felt made by Turcomans, 21 

uses of, 22 
Festival of hatters, 29 
Fine wool, introduction into the United 

States, 23 
Finishing, 49 

First account of hatters, 27 
Flowing nap, 43 



Forming, 56 

machines, 57-59 
Fulling, 14 

acid aids, 21 

mill, 24 

oil prevents, 21 

process of, 25 

soap aids, 21 
Fur, kinds of, 20 

qualities of, 14 
Furs, description of, 11 

how prepared, 29 

inferior articles employed with, 
22 

low prices of in early times, 23 

Gaiters of felt, 60 
Glue, pelts used for, 31 
Goods, shrinking of, 15 
Gordian knot, 19 
Gossamer hats, 53 
Grease prevents fulling, 21 

Hair balls in the stomach, 19 

bleaching of, 14 

chemical analysis of, 12 

construction of, 16 

description of, 11 

how it grows, 12 

peculiar properties of, 15 

why it felts, 14 
Hairs, number of, 17 
Hat basket, 40 

block, 47 

bow, 39 

iron, 49 
Hats, ancient, 26 

cardinal's, 26 

cassimere, 48 

cloth, 63 

history of, 25 

manufacture of, 36 

scarlet, 26 

Spanish, 28 
Hatters' festival, 29 

first account of. 27 

kettles, 46 



68 



Hatting, history of, 25 

in the United States, 27 

silk, 52 
History of hats and hatting, 25 
How hair felts, 14 

hair grows, 12 

to judge of the quality of wool, 
23 

Inferior articles employed with furs, 
22 

Introductory remarks, 9 

Introduction of fine wool into the Uni- 
ted States, 23 

Invention of felting, 22 

Inventor of felting, 27 

Kettles, 46 
Kinds of fur, 20 

Manufacture of hats, 36 
Materials, preparation of, 29 
for hats, 20 

Nap, flowing, 43 
Napping, 45 
Number of hairs, 17 

Oil prevents fulling, 21 

Patent, Queen Elizabeth's, 28 
Peculiar properties of hair, 15 
Pelts used for glue, etc., 31 
Planking, 42 
Pneumatic process, 58 
Polishing, 56 
Pouncing, 48 

Preparation of materials, 29 
Prices of furs in early times, 23 
Printers' sheets, 61 
Process of fulling, 25 
Properties of broadcloth, 19 
Pulling, 29 
Pumicing, 48 



Qualities of fur, 14 
Quality of wool, how judged, 23 
Quantity of stuff for a hat, 38 
Queen Elizabeth's patent, 28 

Receipts for stiffs, 34 
Ruffing, 45 

Scarlet hats, 26 
Secretage, 29 
Shaving, 44 
Shellac-stiff, 33 
Shoes of felt, 60 
Shrinking of goods, 15 
Silk hatting, 52 
Sizing, 42 

Soap aids fulling, 21 
Spanish hats, 28 
Stiffening, 31 

process, 44 
Stiffs, 31, 33, 34 
Stockings, wool, 18 
Stomach, hair balls in, 19 
Stuff, quantity of for a hat, 38 

Turcomans, felt made by, 21 

United States, hatting in, 27 
Uses of felt, 22 

Water-proofing materials, 31 
When felting was invented, 22 
When fine wool was introduced into 

the United States, 23 
Why cotton does not felt, 17 

hair felts, 14 
Wire hoop for brims, 51 
Wool, fine, introduction into the United 

States, 23 
Wool, how to judge of the quality, 

23 
Wools, description of, 11 
Wool stockings, 18 



CATALOGUE 

OF 

PRACTICAL AND SCIENTIFIC BOOKS, 

PCBLISHED BY 

HENRY CAREY BAIRD, 

INDUSTRIAL PUBLISHER, 

ISTo- 406 -W^ILlKrTTT STREET, 

PHILADELPHIA. 



Any of the Books comprised In this Catalogue will be sent by mail 
free of postage, at the publication price. 

This Catalogue will be sent, free _ of postage, to any one who wil 
furnish the publisher with his address. 



A RMENGAUD, AMOUROUX, AND JOHNSON.-THE PRACTICAL 

■°- DRAUGHTSMAN'S BOOK OF INDUSTRIAL DESIGN, AND 

MACHINIST'S AND ENGINEER'S DRAWING COMPANION: 

Forming a complete course of Mechanical Engineering and 
Architectural Drawing. From the French of M. Armengaud 
the elder, Prof, of Design in the Conservatoire of Arts and 
Industry, Paris, and MM. Armengaud the younger and Amou- 
roux, Civil Engineers. Rewritten and arranged, with addi- 
tional matter and plates, selections from and examples of the 
most useful and generally employed mechanism of the day. 
By William Johnson, Assoc. Inst. C. E., Editor of "The 
Practical Mechanic's Journal." Illustrated by 50 folio steel 
plates and 50 wood-cuts. A new edition, 4to. . $10 00 

A RROWSMITH.— PAPER-HANGER'S COMPANION : 

A Treatise in which the Practical Operations of the Trade are 
Systematically laid down: with Copious Directions Prepara- 
tory to Papering ; Preventives against the Effect of Damp on 
Walls; the Various Cements and Pastes adapted to the Seve- 
ral Purposes of the Trade; Observations and Directions for 
the Panelling and Ornamenting of Rooms, &c. By James 
Arrowsmith, Author of "Analysis of Drapery," &c. 12mo , 
cloth % l 25 



HENRY CAREY BAIRD - S CATALOGUE. 



"pAIRD.— THE AMERICAN COTTON SPINNER, AND MANA- 
■° GER'S AND CARDER'S GUIDE : 

A Practical Treatise on Cotton Spinning; giving the Dimen- 
sions and Speed of Machinery, Draught and Twist Calcula- 
tions, etc. ; with notices of recent Improvements : together 
with Rules and Examples for making changes in the sizes and 
numbers of Roving and Yarn. Compiled from the papers of 
the late Robert H. Baird. 12mo. . . . $1 50 

"DAKER.— LONG-SPAN RAILWAY BRIDGES : 

Comprising Investigations of the Comparative Theoretical and 
Practical Advantages of the various Adopted or Proposed Type 
Systems of Construction; with numerous Formulce and Ta- 
bles. By B. Baker. 12mo $2 00 

•DAKEWELL.— A MANUAL OF ELECTRICITY— PRACTICAL AND 
D THEORETICAL : 

By F. C. Bakewell, Inventor of the Copying Telegraph. Se- 
cond Edition. Revised and enlarged. Illustrated by nume- 
rous engravings. 12mo. Cloth . . . . $2 00 

"DEANS —A TREATISE ON RAILROAD CURVES AND THE L0- 
■° CATION OF RAILROADS : 

By E. W. Beans, C. E. 12mo. (In press.) 

■DLENKARN.— PRACTICAL SPECIFICATIONS OF WORKS EXE- 
D CUTED IN ARCHITECTURE, CIVIL AND MECHANICAL 
ENGINEERING, AND IN ROAD MAKING AND SEWER- 
ING: 

To which are added a series of practically useful Agreements 
and Reports. By John Blenkarn. Illustrated by fifteen 
large folding plates. 8vo. . . . . . $9 00 

pLINN.— A PRACTICAL WORKSHOP COMPANION FOR TIN, 
■° SHEET-IRON, AND COPPER-PLATE WORKERS : 

Containing Rules for Describing various kinds of Patterns 
used by Tin, Sheet-iron, and Copper-plate Workers ; Practical 
Geometry; Mensuration of Surfaces and Solids; Tables of the 
Weigbt of Metals, Lead Pipe, etc.; Tables of Areas and Cir- 
cumferences of Circles ; Japans, Varnishes, Lackers, Cements, 
Compositions, etc. etc. By Lerot J. Blinn, Master Me- 
chanic. 'With over One Hundred Illustrations. 12mo. §2 50 



IIENRY CARET BAIRD'S CATALOGUE. 8 

•pOOTH.— MARBLE WORKER'S MANUAL : 

Containing Practical Information respecting Marbles in gene- 
ral, their Cutting, Working, and Polishing ; Veneering of 
Marble ; Mosaics ; Composition and Use of Artificial Marble, 
Stuccos, Cements, Receipts, Secrets, etc. etc. Translated 
from the French by M. L. Booth. With an Appendix con- 
cerning American Marbles. 12mo., cloth . . $1 50 

TJOOTH AND MORFIT.— THE ENCYCLOPEDIA OF CHEMISTRY, 
•° PRACTICAL AND THEORETICAL : 

Embracing its application to the Arts, Metallurgy, Mineralogy, 
Geology, Medicine, and Pharmacy. By James C. Booth, 
Meltcr and Refiner in the United States Mint, Professor of 
Applied Chemistry in the Franklin Institute, etc., assisted by 
Campbell Morfit, author of "Chemical Manipulations," etc. 
Seventh edition. Complete in one volume, royal 8vo., 978 
pages, with numerous wood-cuts and other illustrations. §5 00 

■nOWDITCH.— ANALYSIS, TECHNICAL VALUATION, PURIFI- 

& CATION, AND USE OF COAL GAS : 

By Rev. W. R. Bowditch. Illustrated with wood engrav- 
ings. 8vo $6 50 

■DOX —PRACTICAL HYDRAULICS : 

•^ A Series of Rules and Tables for the use of Engineers, etc. 
By Thomas Box. 12mo $2 00 

-pUCKMASTER.— THE ELEMENTS OF MECHANICAL PHYSICS : 
By J. C. Buckmaster, late Student in the Government School 
of Mines ; Certified Teacher of Science by the Department of 
Science and Art; Examiner in Chemistry and Physics in the 
Royal College of Preceptors ; and late Lecturer in Chemistry 
and Physics of the Royal Polytechnic Institute. Illustrated 
with numerous engravings. In one vol. 12mo. . $2 00 

■pULLOCK.— THE AMERICAN COTTAGE BUILDER : 

A Series of Designs, Plans, and Specifications, from $200 to 
to $20,000 for Homes for the People ; together with Warm- 
ing, Ventilation, Drainage, Painting, and Landscape Garden- 
ing. By John Bullock, Architect, Civil Engineer, Mechani- 
cian, and Editor of "The Rudiments of Architecture and 
Building," etc. Illustrated by 75 engravings. In one vol. 
8vo $3 50 



HENRY CARET BAIRD'S CATALOGUE. 



■DTJLLOCK. — THE RUDIMENTS OF ARCHITECTURE AND 
D BUILDING : 

For the use of Architects, Builders, Draughtsmen, Machin- 
ists, Engineers, and Mechanics. Edited by John Bullock, 
author of "The American Cottage Builder." Illustrated by 
250 engravings. In one volume 8vo. . . . $3 50 

■DURGH.— PRACTICAL ILLUSTRATIONS OF LAND AND MA- 

D RINE ENGINES : 

Showing in detail the Modern Improvements of High and Low 
Pressure, Surface Condensation, and Super-heating, together 
with Land and Marine Boilers. By N. P. Burgh, Engineer. 
Illustrated by twenty plates, double elephant folio, with text. 

$21 00 

TDURGH.— PRACTICAL RULES FOR THE PROPORTIONS OF 

^ MODERN ENGINES AND BOILERS FOR LAND AND MA- 
RINE PURPOSES. 
By N. P. Burgh, Engineer. 12mo. . . . $2 00 

•DURGH.— THE SLIDE-VALVE PRACTICALLY CONSIDERED : 
By N. P. Burgh, author of " A Treatise on Sugar Machinery," 
"Practical Illustrations of Land and Marine Engines," "A 
Pocket-Book of Practical Rules for Designing Land and Ma- 
rine Engines, Boilers," etc. etc. etc. Completely illustrated. 
12mo $2 00 

•pYRN.— THE COMPLETE PRACTICAL BREWER : 

Or, Plain, Accurate, and Thorough Instructions in the Art of 
Brewing Beer, Ale, Porter, including the Process of making 
Bavarian Beer, all the Small Beers, such as Root-beer, Ginger- 
pop, Sarsaparilla-beer, Mead, Spruce beer, etc. etc. Adapted 
to the use of Public Brewers and Private Families. By M. La 
Fayette Btrn, M. D. With illustrations. 12mo. §1 25 

■DYRN.— THE COMPLETE PRACTICAL DISTILLER : 

Comprising the most perfect and exact Theoretical and Prac- 
tical Description of the Art of Distillation and Rectification ; 
including all of the most recent improvements in distilling 
apparatus ; instructions for preparing spirits from the nume- 
rous vegetables, fruits, etc. ; directions for the distillation and 
preparation of all kinds of brandies and other spirits, spiritu- 
ous and other compounds, etc. etc. ; all of which is so simpli- 
fied that it is adapted not only to the use of extensive distil- 
lers, but for every farmer, or others who may wish to engage 
in the art of distilling. By M. La Fayette Byrn, M. D. 
With numerous engravings. In one volume, 12mo. $1 50 



HENRY CAREY BAIRD'S CATALOGUE. 



•DYRNE.— POCKET BOOK FOR RAILROAD AND CIVIL ENGI- 
n NEERS: 

Containing New, Exact, and Concise Methods for Laying out 
Railroad Curves, Switches, Frog Angles and Crossings; the 
Staking out of work; Levelling; the Calculation of Cut- 
tings; Embankments; Earth-work, etc. By Oliver Btene. 
Illustrated, 18mo. . . . . . . . $1 25 

■DYRNE.— THE HANDBOOK FOR THE ARTISAN, MECHANIC, 

n AND ENGINEER : 

By Oliver Byrne. Illustrated by 11 large plates and 185 
Wood Engravings. 8vo $5 00 

■DYRNE.— THE ESSENTIAL ELEMENTS OF PRACTICAL ME- 
n CHANICS : 

For Engineering Students, based on the Principle of Work. 
By Oliver Byrne. Illustrated by Numerous Wood Engrav- 
ings, 12mo. . . . . . . . . $3 63 

-DYRNE.— THE PRACTICAL METAL-WORKER'S ASSISTANT: 
Comprising Metallurgic Chemistry ; the Arts of Working all 
Metals and Alloys ; Forging of Iron and Steel ; Hardening and 
Tempering ; Melting and Mixing ; Casting and Founding ; 
Works in Sheet Metal ; the Processes Dependent on the 
Ductility of the Metals ; Soldering ; and the most Improved 
Processes and Tools employed by Metal- Workers. With the 
Application of the Art of Electro-Metallurgy to Manufactu- 
ring Processes ; collected from Original Sources, and from the 
Works of HoltzapflFel, Bergeron, Leupold, Plumier, Napier, and 
others. By Oliver Byrne. A New, Revised, and improved 
Edition, with Additions by John ScofiFern, M. B , William Clay, 
Wm. Fairbairn, F. R. S., and James Napier. With Five Hun- 
dred and Ninety-two Engravings ; Illustrating every Branch 
of the Subject. In one volume, 8vo. 652 pages . $7 00 

"DYRNE.— THE PRACTICAL CALCULATOR : 

For the Engineer, Mechanic, Manufacturer of Engine Work, 
Naval Architect, Miner, and Millwright. By Oliver Byrne. 
1 volume, 8vo., nearly 600 pages . . . . $4 50 

nABINET MAKER'S ALBUM OF FURNITURE: 

Comprising a Collection of Designs for the Newest and Most 
Elegant Styles of Furniture. Illustrated by Forty eight Large 
and Beautifully Engraved Plates. In one volume, oblong 

$5 00 



HENRY CAREY BAIRD'S CATALOGUE. 



pALVERT.— LECTURES ON COAL-TAR COLORS, AND ON RE- 
U CENT IMPROVEMENTS AND PROGRESS IN DYEING AND 
CALICO PRINTING: 

Embodying Copious Notes taken at the last London Interna- 
tional Exhibition, and Illustrated with Numerous Patterns of 
Aniline and other Colors. By F. Grace Calvert, F. R. S., 
F. C. S., Professor of Chemistry at the Royal Institution, Man- 
chester, Corresponding Member of the Royal Academies of 
Turin and Rouen ; of the Pharmaceutical Society of Paris ; 
Soci6te Industrielle de Mulhouse, etc. In one volume, 8vo., 
cloth $1 50 

MAMPIN.— A PRACTICAL TREATISE ON MECHANICAL EN- 
U GINEERING: 

Comprising Metallurgy, Moulding, Casting, Forging, Tools, 
Workshop Machinery, Mechanical Manipulation, Manufacture 
of Steam-engines, etc. etc. With an Appendix on the Ana- 
lysis of Iron and Iron Ores. By Francis Campin, C. E. To 
■which are added, Observations on the Construction of Steam 
Boilers, and Remarks upon Furnaces used for Smoke Preven- 
tion; with a Chapter on Explosions. By R. Armstrong, C. E., 
and John Bourne. Rules for Calculating the Change Wheels 
for Screws on a Turning Lathe, and for a Wheel-cutting 
Machine. By J. La Nicca. Management of Steel, including 
Forging, Hardening, Tempering, Annealing, Shrinking, and 
Expansion. And the Case-hardening of Iron. By G. Ede. 
8vo. Illustrated with 29 plates and 100 wood engravings. 

$6 00 

pAMPLN.— THE PRACTICE OF HAND-TURNING IN WOOD, 
^ IVORY, SHELL, ETC. : 

With Instructions for Turning such works in Metal as may be 
required in the Practice of Turning Wood, Ivory, etc. Also, 
an Appendix on Ornamental Turning. By Francis Campin ; 
with Numerous Illustrations, 12mo., cloth . $3 00 

pAPRON DE DOLE.— DUSSAUCE.— BLUES AND CARMINES OF 
^ INDIGO. 

A Practical Treatise on the Fabrication of every Commercial 
Product derived from Indigo. By Felicien Capron de Dole. 
Translated, with important additions, by Professor II. Dus- 
8AUCE* 12mo. $2 60 



HENRY CAREY BAIRD'S CATALOGUE. 



nAREY.— THE WORKS OF HENRY C. CAREY : 

CONTRACTION OR EXPANSION? REPUDIATION OR RE- 
SUMPTION? Letters to Hon. Hugh McCulloch. 8vo. 38 

FINANCIAL CRISES, their Causes and Effects. 8vo. paper 

25 

HARMONY OF INTERESTS; Agricultural, Manufacturing, 

and Commercial. 8vo., paper . . . . . $1 00 

Do. do. cloth . . . $1 50 

LETTERS TO THE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES. 
Paper ......... 75 

MANUAL OF SOCIAL SCIENCE. Condensed from Carey's 
"Principles of Social Science." By Kate McKean. 1 vol. 
12mo $2 25 

MISCELLANEOUS WORKS: comprising "Harmony of Inter- 
ests," "Money," "Letters to the President," "French and 
American Tariffs," "Financial Crises," "TheAVayto Outdo 
England 'without Fighting Her," "Resources of the Union," 
"The Public Debt," "Contraction or Expansion," "Review 
of the Decade 1857 — "67," "Reconstruction," etc. etc. 1 vol. 
8vo., cloth $4 50 

MONEY: A LECTURE before the N. Y. Geographical and Sta- 
tistical Society. 8vo., paper ..... 25 

PAST, PRESENT, AND FUTURE. 8vo. . . . $2 50 

PRINCIPLES OF SOCIAL SCIENCE. 3 volumes 8vo., cloth 

$10 00 

REVIEW OF THE DECADE 1857— '67. 8vo., paper 38 

RECONSTRUCTION: INDUSTRIAL, FINANCIAL, AND PO- 
LITICAL. Letters to the Hon. Henry Wilson, U. S. S. 8vo. 
paper ...... . 38 

THE PUBLIC DEBT, LOCAL AND NATIONAL. How to 
provide for its discharge while lessening the burden of Taxa- 
tion. Letter to David A. Wells, Esq., U. S. Revenue Commis- 
sion. 8vo., paper ....... 25 

THE RESOURCES OF THE UNION. A Lecture read, Dec. 
1865, before the American Geographical and Statistical So- 
ciety, N. Y., and before the American Association for the Ad- 
vancement of Social Science, Boston ... 25 

THE SLAVE TRADE, DOMESTIC AND FOREIGN; Why it 
Exists, and How it may be Extinguished. 12mo., cloth $150 



HENRY CAREY BAIRD'S CATALOGUE. 



THE WAY TO OUTDO ENGLAND WITHOUT FIGHTING 
HER. Letters to the Hon. Schuyler Colfax, Speaker of the 
House of Representatives United States, on "The Paper Ques- 
tion," "The Farmer's Question," "The Iron Question," "The 
Railroad Question," and "The Currency Question." 8vo., 
paper 75 

HHEVALIER.— THE PHOTOGRAPHIC STUDENT. 

A Complete Treatise on the Theory and Practice of Photo- 
graphy. Translated from the French of A. Chevalier. Il- 
lustrated by numerous engravings. (In press.) 

nLOUGH.— THE CONTRACTOR'S MANUAL AND BUILDER'S 

^ PRICE-BOOK : 

Designed to elucidate the method of ascertaining, correctly, 
the value and Quantity of every description of Work and Ma- 
terials used in the Art of Building, from their Prime Cost in 
any part of the United States, collected from extensive expe- 
rience and observation in Building and Designing ; to which 
are added a large variety of Tables, Memoranda, etc., indis- 
pensable to all engaged or concerned in erecting buildings of 
any kind. By A. B. Clough, Architect, 24mo., cloth 75 

pOLBURN— THE GAS-WORKS OF LONDON: 

Comprising a sketch of the Gas-works of the city, Process of 
Manufacture, Quantity Produced, Cost, Profit, etc. By Zekah 
Colburn. 8vo., cloth ...... 75 

nOLBURN.— THE LOCOMOTIVE ENGINE: 

Including a Description of its Structure, Rules for Estimat- 
ing its Capabilities, and Practical Observations on its Construc- 
tion and Management. By Zerah Colburn. Illustrated. A 
new edition. 12mo $1 25 

pOLBURN AND MAW.— THE WATER-WORKS OF LONDON: 
Together with a Series of Articles on various other Water- 
works. By Zerah Colburn and W. Maw. Reprinted from 
"Engineering." In one volume, 8vo. . . $1 00 

TlAGUERREOTYPIST AND PHOTOGRAPHER'S COMPANION: 

** 12mo., cloth $1 25 

T\AVIS.— A TREATISE ON HARNESS, SADDLES, AND BRI- 
JJ DLES : 

Their History and Manufacture from the Earliest Times down 
to the Present Period. By A. Davis, Practical Saddler and 
Harness Maker. (In press.) 



HENRY CAREY LAIRD'S CATALOGUE. 



TjESSOYE.— STEEL, ITS MANUFACTURE, PROPERTIES, AND 

13 USE. 

By J. B. J. Dessoye, Manufacturer of Steel ; with an Intro- 
duction and Notes by Ed. Graten, Engineer of Mines. 
Translated from the French. In one volume, 12mo. (In press ) 

TjIRCKS.— PERPETUAL MOTION : 

Or Search for Self-Motive Power during the 17th, 18th, and 
19th centuries. Illustrated from various authentic sources in 
Papers, Essays, Letters, Paragraphs, and numerous Patent 
Specifications, with an Introductory Essay by Henry Dircks, 
C. E. Illustrated by numerous engravings of machines. 
12mo., cloth . . . . . . . . $3 50 

TjIXON.— THE PRACTICAL MILLWRIGHT'S AND ENGINEER'S 

13 GUIDE: 

Or Tables for Finding the Diameter and Power of Cogwheels ; 
Diameter, Weight, and Power of Shafts ; Diameter and Strength 
of Bolts, etc. etc. By Thomas Dixon. 12mo., cloth. $1 50 

TJUNC AN.— PRACTICAL SURVEYOR'S GUIDE: 

Containing the necessary information to make any person, of 
common capacity, a finished land surveyor without the aid of 
a teacher. By Andrew Duncan. Illustrated. 12mo., cloth. 

$1 25 
TjUSSAUCE.— A NEW AND COMPLETE TREATISE ON THE 
13 ARTS OF TANNING, CURRYING, AND LEATHER DRESS- 
ING : 

Comprising all the Discoveries and Improvements made in 
France, Great Britain, and the United States. Edited from 
Notes and Documents of Messrs. Sallerou, Grouvelle, Duval, 
Dessables, Labarraque, Payen, Rene", De Fontenelle, Mala- 
peyre, etc. etc. By Prof. H. Dussauce, Chemist. Illustrated 
by 212 wood engravings. 8vo $10 00 

■nUSSAUCE.— A GENERAL TREATISE ON THE MANUFACTURE 
13 OF EVERY DESCRIPTION OF SOAP : 

Comprising the Chemistry of the Art, with Remarks on Alka- 
lies, Saponifiable Fatty Bodies, the apparatus necessary in a 
Soap Factory, Practical Instructions on the manufacture of 
the various kinds of Soap, the assay of Soaps, etc. etc. Edited 
from notes of Larme, Fontenelle, Malapeyre, Dufour, and 
others, with large and important additions by Professor II. 
Dussauce, Chemist. Illustrated. In one volume, 8vo. (In 
press.) 



10 HENRY CAREY BAIRD'S CATALOGUE. 

JJUSSAUCE.— A PRACTICAL GUIDE FOR THE PERFUMER: 
Being a New Treatise on Perfumery the most favorable to the 
Beauty without being injurious to the Health, comprising a 
Description of the substances used in Perfumery, the Form- 
ulae of more than one thousand Preparations, such as Cosme- 
tics, Perfumed Oils, Tooth Powders, Waters, Extracts, Tinc- 
tures, Infusions, Yinaigres, Essential Oils, Pastels, Creams, 
Soaps, and many new Hygienic Products not hitherto described. 
Edited from Notes and Documents of Messrs. Debay, Lunel, 
etc. With additions by Professor II. Dussauce, Chemist. (In 
press, shortly to be issiied.) 

TpSSAUCE.— PRACTICAL TREATISE ON THE FABRICATION 

"^ OF MATCHES, GUN COTTON, AND FULMINATING POW- 
DERS. 
By Professor H. Dussauce. 12mo. . . §3 00 

TYUSSAUCE.— TREATISE ON THE COLORING MATTERS DE- 

13 RIVED FROM COAL TAR : 

Their Practical Application in Dyeing Cotton, Wool, and Silk; 
the Principles of the Art of Dyeing and of the Distillation of 
Coal Tar, with a Description of the most Important New Dyes 
now in use. By Prof. II. Dussauce. 12mo. . $3 00 

T\YER AND COLOR-MAKER'S COMPANION : 

Containing upwards of two hundred Receipts for making Co- 
lors, on the most approved principles, for all the various styles 
and fabrics now in existence; with the Scouring Process, and 
plain Directions for Preparing, Washing-off, and Finishing the 
Goods. In one vol. 12mo. . . . . . §1 25 

■PASTON.— A PRACTICAL TREATISE ON STREET OR HORSE- 

■ Lj POWER RAILWAYS : 

Their Location, Construction, and Management ; with General 
Plans and Rules for their Organization and Operation; toge- 
ther with Examinations as to their Comparative Advantages 
over the Omnibus System, and Inquiries as to their Value for 
Investment; including Copies of Municipal Ordinances relat- 
ing thereto. By Alexander Easton, C. E. Illustrated by 23 
plates, 8vo., cloth $2 00 

■PRNL— COAL OIL AND PETROLEUM : 

Their Origin, History, Geology, and Chemistry; with a view of 
their importance in their bearing on National Industry. By 
Dr. Henri Erni, Chief Chemist, Department of Agriculture. 
12mo $2 50 



HENRY CAREY BAIRD'S CATALOGUE. 11 

■pBNL— THE THEORETICAL AND PRACTICAL CHEMISTRY OF 

^ FERMENTATION : 

Comprising the Chemistry of Wine, Beer, Distilling of Liquors; 
with the Practical Methods of their Chemical Examination, 
Preservation, and Improvement — such as Gallizing of Wines. 
With an Appendix, containing well-tested Practical Rules and 
Receipts for the manufacture, etc., of all kinds of Alcoholic 
Liquors. By Henry Erni, Chief Chemist, Department of 
Agriculture. (In press.) 

-pAIRBAIRN.— THE PRINCIPLES OF MECHANISM AND MA- 

£ CHINERY OF TRANSMISSION : 

Comprising the Principles of Mechanism, W'heels, and Pulleys, 
Strength and Proportions of Shafts, Couplings of Shafts, and 
Engaging and Disengaging Gear. By William Fairbairn, 
Esq., C. E., LL. D., F. R. S., F. G. S., Corresponding Member 
of the National Institute of France, and of the Royal Academy 
of Turin; Chevalier of the Legion of Honor, etc. etc. Beau- 
tifully illustrated by over 150 wood-cuts. In one volume 12mo. 

$2 50 

pAIRBAIRN.— PRIME-MOVERS : 

Comprising the Accumulation of Water-power; the Construc- 
tion of Water-wheels and Turbines; the Properties of Steam; 
the Varieties of Steam-engines and Boilers and Wind-mills. 
By William Fairbairn, C. E., LL. D., F. R. S., F. G. S. Au- 
thor of "Principles of Mechanism and the Machinery of Trans- 
mission." With Numerous Illustrations. In one volume. (In 
press.) 

pLAMM.— A PRACTICAL GUIDE TO TEE CONSTRUCTION OF 
X ECONOMICAL HEATING APPLICATIONS FOR SOLID AND 
GASEOUS FUELS : 

With the Application of Concentrated Heat, and on Waste 
Heat, for the Use of Engineers, Architects, Stove and Furnace 
Makers, Manufacturers of Fire Brick, Z ; nc, Porcelain, Glass, 
Earthenware, Steel, Chemical Products, Sugar Refiners, Me- 
tallurgists, and all others employing Heat. By M. Pierre 
Flamm, Manufacturer. Illustrated. Translated from the 
French. One volume, 12mo. (In press.) 

piLBART— A PRACTICAL TREATISE ON BANKING: 

By James William Gilbart. To which is added: The Na- 
tional Bank Act as now (1SGS) ix forcje. Svo. $1 50 



12 HENRY CAREY BAIRD'S CATALOGUE. 

pOTHIC ALBUM FOR CABINET MAKERS: 

Comprising a Collection of Designs for Gothic Furniture. Il- 
lustrated by twenty-three large and beautifully engraved 
plates. Oblong §3 00 

rjRANT.— BEET-ROOT SUGAR AND CULTIVATION OF THE 
U BEET : 

By E. B. Grant. 12mo. . . . . . $1 25 

pREGORY— MATHEMATICS FOR PRACTICAL MEN: 

Adapted to the Pursuits of Surveyors, Architects, Mechanics, 
and Civil Engineers. By Olinthus Gregory. 8vo., plates, 
cloth $3 00 

HRISWOLD.— RAILROAD ENGINEER'S POCKET COMPANION. 

Comprising Rules for Calculating Deflection Distances and 
Angles, Tangential Distances and Angles, and all Necessary 
Tables for Engineers; also the art of Levelling from Prelimi- 
nary Survey to the Construction of Railroads, intended Ex- 
pressly for the Young Engineer, together with Numerous Valu- 
able Rules and Examples. By W. Griswold. 12mo., tucks. 

$1 25 
nUETTIER.— METALLIC ALLOYS: 

Being a Practical Guide to their Chemical and Physical Pro- 
perties, their Preparation, Composition, and Uses. Translated 
from the French of A. Guettier, Engineer and Director of 
Founderies, author of "La Fouderie en France," etc. etc. By 
A. A. Fesquet, Chemist and Engineer. In one volume, 12mo. 
(In press, shortly to be published.) 

TTATS AND FELTING: 

A Practical Treatise on their Manufacture. By a Practical 
Hatter. Illustrated by Drawings of Machinery, &c, 8vo. 

TTAY.— THE INTERIOR DECORATOR : 

The Laws of Harmonious Coloring adapted to Interior Decora- 
tions: with a Practical Treatise on House-Painting. By D. 
R. Hat, House-Painter and Decorator. Illustrated by a Dia- 
gram of the Primary, Secondary, and Tertiary Colors. 12mo. 

$2 25 

TTUCtHES— AMERICAN MILLER AND MILLWRIGHT'S AS- 

11 SISTANT : 

By Wm. Carter Hughes. A new edition. In one volume, 
12mo . ... $1 50 



HENRY CAREY BAIRD'S CATALOGUE. 13 

TTUNT.— THE PRACTICE OF PHOTOGRAPHY. 

By Robert Hunt, Vice-President of the Photographic Society, 
Loudon, with numerous illustrations. 12mo., cloth . 75 

JJURST — A HAND-BOOK FOR ARCHITECTURAL SURVEYORS : 

Comprising Formula) useful in Designing Builder's work, Table 
of Weights, of the materials used in Building, Memoranda 
connected with Builders' work, Mensuration, the Practice of 
Builders' Measurement, Contracts of Labor, Valuation of Pro- 
perty, Summary of the Practice iu Dilapidation, etc. etc. By 
J. F. Hurst, C. E. 2d edition, pocket-book form, full bound 

$2 50 
TERVIS.— RAILWAY PROPERTY : 

A Treatise on the Construction and Management of Railways ; 
designed to afford useful knowledge, in the popular style, to the 
holders of this class of property.; as well as Railway Mana- 
gers, Officers, and Agents. By John B. Jervis, late Chief 
Engineer of the Hudson River Railroad, Croton Aqueduct, &c. 
One vol. 12mo., cloth $2 00 

JOHNSON.— A REPORT TO THE NAVY DEPARTMENT OF THE 

U UNITED STATES ON AMERICAN COALS : 

Applicable to Steam Navigation and to other purposes. By 
Walter R. Johnson. With numerous illustrations. 607 pp. 
8vo., half morocco $6 00 

JOHNSON.— THE COAL TRADE OF BRITISH AMERICA : 

With Researches on the Characters and Practical Values of 
American and Foreign Coals. By Walter R. Johnson, Civil 
and Mining Engineer and Chemist. 8vo. . . . $2 00 

JOHNS TON.— INSTRUCTIONS FOR THE ANALYSIS OF SOILS, 
U LIMESTONES, AND MANURES. 

By J. W. F. Johnston. 12mo 38 

J/-EENE.— A HAND-BOOK OF PRACTICAL GAUGING, 

For the Use of Beginners, to which is added A Chapter on Dis- 
tillation, describing the process in operation at the Custom 
House for ascertaining the strength of wines. By James B. 
Keene, of H. M. Customs. 8vo. . . . . $1 25 

T7-ENTISH.— A TREATISE ON A BOX OF INSTRUMENTS, 

And the Slide Rule ; with the Theory of Trigonometry and Lo- 
garithms, including Practical Geometry, Surveying, Measur- 
ing of Timber, Cask and Malt Gauging, Heights, and Distances. 
By Thomas Kentish. In one volume. 12mo. . $1 25 



U HENRY CAREY BAIRD'S CATALOGUE. 



TTOBELL.— ERNL— MINERALOGY SIMPLIFIED : 

A short method of Determining and Classifying Minerals, by 
means of simple Chemical Experiments in the "Wet Way. 
Translated from the last German Edition of F. Von Kobell, 
•with an Introduction to Blowpipe Analysis and other addi- 
tions. By Henri Erni, M. D., Chief Chemist, Department of 
Agriculture, author of " Coal Oil and Petroleum." In one 
volume, 12mo. . . . . . . . $2 50 

TAFFINEUR— A PRACTICAL GUIDE TO HYDRAULICS FOR 
Jj TOWN AND COUNTRY; 

Or a Complete Treatise on the Building of Conduits for AVater 
for Cities, Towns, Farms, Country Residences, "Workshops, etc. 
Comprising the means necessary for obtaining at all times 
abundant supplies of Drinkable Water. Translated from 
the French of M. Jules Laffineur, C. E. Illustrated. (In 
press.) 

T AFFINEUR— A TREATISE ON THE CONSTRUCTION OF WA- 
Jj TER- WHEELS : 

Containing the various Systems in use with Practical Informa- 
tion on the Dimensions necessary for Shafts, Journals, Arms, 
etc., of Water-wheels, etc. etc. Translated from the French 
of M. Jules Laffineur, C. E. Illustrated by numerous 
plates. (In press.) 

T ANDRIN.— A TREATISE ON STEEL : 

Comprising the Theory, Metallurgy, Practical Working, Pro- 
perties, and Use. Translated from the French of H. C. Lan- 
drin, Jr., C. E. By A. A. Fesquet, Chemist and Engineer. 
Illustrated. 12mo. (In press.) 

T ARKIN.— THE PRACTICAL BRASS AND IRON FOUNDER'S 
Jj GUIDE : 

A Concise Treatise on Brass Founding, Moulding, the Metals 
and their Alloys, etc. ; to which are added Recent Improve- 
ments in the Manufacture of Iron, Steel by the Bessemer Pro- 
cess, etc. etc. By James Larkin, late Conductor of the Brass 
Foundry Department in Reany, Neafie & Co.'s Penn Works, 
Philadelphia. Fifth edition, revised, with Extensive addi- 
tions. In one volume, 12mo. . . . . . $2 25 



HENRY CAREY BAIRD'S CATALOGUE. 15 

T EAVITT.— FACTS ABOUT PEAT AS AN ARTICLE OF FUEL : 
With Remarks upon its Origin and Composition, the Localities 
in which it is found, the Methods of Preparation and Manu- 
facture, and the various Uses to which it is applicable; toge- 
ther with many other matters of Practical and Scientific Inte- 
rest. To which is added a chapter on the Utilization of Coal 
Dust with Peat for the Production of an Excellent Fuel at 
Moderate Cost, especially adapted for Steam Service. By H. 
T. Leavitt. Third edition. 12mo. . . . $1 75 

T EROUX — A PRACTICAL TREATISE ON WOOLS AND WOR- 

*-* STED3 : 

Translated from the French of Cuarles Leroux, Mechanical 
Engineer, and Superintendent of a Spinning Mill. Illustrated 
by 12 large plates and 34 engravings. In one volume 8vo. 
(In press, shortly to be published.) 

TESLIE (MISS).— COMPLETE COOKERY: 

Directions for Cookery in its Various Branches. By Miss 
Leslie. 58th thousand. Thoroughly revised, with the addi- 
tion of New Receipts. In 1 vol. 12mo., cloth . . $1 25 

TESLIE (MISS). LADIES' HOUSE BOOK: 

a Manual of Domestic Economy. 20th revised edition. 12mo., 
cloth $1 25 

TESLIE (MISS).— TWO HUNDRED RECEIPTS IN FRENCH 
U COOKERY. 

12mo 50 

T LEBER.— ASSAYER'S GUIDE: 

Or, Practical Directions to Assayers, Miners, and Smelters, for 
the Tests and Assays, by Heat and by Wet Processes, for the 
Ores of all the principal Metals, of Gold and Silver Coins and 
Alloys, and of Coal, etc. By Oscar M. Lieber. 12mo., cloth 

$1 25 

T OVE.— THE ART OF DYEING, CLEANING, SCOURING, AND 

Jj FINISHING : 

On the most approved English and French methods ; being 
Practical Instructions in Dyeing Silks, Woollens, and Cottons, 
Feathers, Chips, Straw, etc.; Scouring and Cleaning Bed and 
Window Curtains, Carpets, Rugs, etc.; French and English 
Cleaning, any Color or Fabric of Silk, Satin, or Damask. By 
Thomas Love, a Working Dyer and Scourer. In 1 vol. 12mo. 

$3 00 



16 IIENRY CAREY BAIRDS CATALOGUE. 

TUT \IS AND BROWN.— „ JESTIONS ON SUBJECTS CONNECTED 

1Vi WITH THE MARINE STEAM-ENGINE : 

And Examination Papers ; with Hints for their Solution. By 
Thomas J. Main, Professor of Mathematics, Royal Naval Col- 
lege, and Thomas Brown, Chief Engineer, R. N. 12mo., cloth 

$1 50 

TWTAIN AND BROWN —THE INDICATOR AND DYNAMOMETER; 
With their Practical Applications to the Steam-Engine. By 
Thomas J. Main, M. A. F. R., Ass't Prof. Royal Naval College, 
Portsmouth, and Thomas Brown, Assoc. Inst. C. E., Chief En- 
gineer, R. N., attached to the R. N. College. Illustrated. 
From the Fourth London Edition. 8vo. . . . $1 50 

TUTAIN AND BROWN —THE MARINE STEAM-ENGINE. 

By Thomas J. Main, F. R. Ass't S. Mathematical Professor at 
Royal Naval College, and Thomas Brown, Assoc. Inst. C. E. 
Chief Engineer, R. N. Attached to the Royal Naval College. 
Authors of "Questions connected with the Marine Steam-En- 
gine," and the "Indicator and Dynamometer." With nume- 
rous Illustrations. In one volume, 8vo. . . . $5 00 

TWTAKINS— A MANUAL OF METALLURGY: 

More particularly of the Precious Metals: including the Meth- 
ods of Assaying them. Illustrated by upwards of 50 Engrav- 
ings. By George Hogarth Makins, M. R. C. S., F. C. S., one 
of the Assayers to the Bank of England, Assayer to the Anglo- 
Mexican Mints, and Lecturer upon Metallurgy at the Dental 
Hospital, London. In one volume, 12mo. . . $3 50 

TUTARTIN —SCREW-CUTTING TABLES, FOR THE USE OF ME- 

■ LV1 C'lANICAL ENGINEERS : 

Showing the Proper Arrangement of Wheels for Cutting the 
Threads of Screws of any required Pitch ; with a Table for 
Making the Universal Gas-Pipe Thread and Taps. By W. A. 
Martin, Engineer. 8vo. ..... 50 

TV/TILES — A PLAIN TREATISE ON HORSE-SHOEING. 

With illustrations. By William Miles, author of "The 
Horse's Foot," $1 00 

M0LESWORTH. POCKET-BOOK OF USEFUL FORMULA AND 
MEMORANDA FOR CIVIL AND MECHANICAL ENGI- 
NEERS. 

By Guilford L. Molesworth, Member of the Institution of 
Civil Engineers, Chief Resident Engineer of the Ceylou Rail- 
way. Secocd American, from the Tenth London Edition. In 
one volume, full bound in pocket-b^ok firm . $2 00 



HENRY CAREY BAIRD'S CATALOGUE. 



yr 30RE.— THE INVENTOR'S GUIDE: 

Patent Office and Patent Laws; or, a Guide to Inventors, and 
a Book of Reference for Judges, Lawyers, Magistrates, and 
others. By J. G. Moore. 12mo., cloth . . $1 25 

TWpREAU.— PRACTICAL GUIDE FOR THE JEWELLER, 

In the Application of Harmony of Colors in the Arrangement 
of Precious Stones, Gold, etc., from the French of M. L. Mo- 
ke au, Jeweller and Designer. Illustrated. (In press.) 

1PIER.— CHEMISTRY APPLIED TO DYEING. 

By James Napier, F. C. S. A new and revised edition, 
brought down to the present condition of the Art. Illustrated. 
(In press.) 

"M-IPIER.— A MANUAL OF DYEING RECEIPTS FOR GENERAL 
1N USE. 



N 



By James Napier, F. C S. With Numerous Patterns of Dyed 
Cloth and Silk. Second edition, revised and enlarged. 12mo. 

$3 75 
jyjAPIER.— MANUAL OF ELECTRO-METALLURGY: 

Including the Application of the Art to Manufacturing Pro- 
cesses. By James Napier. Fourth American, from the 
Fourth London edition, revised and enlarged. Illustrated by 
engravings. In one volume, 8vo. . . . . $2 00 

•VTEWBERY. — GLEANINGS "FROM ORNAMENTAL ART OF 

1N EVERY STYLE; 

Drawn from Examples in the British, South Kensington, In- 
dian, Crystal Palace, and other Museums, the Exhibitions of 
1851 and 1862, and the best English and Foreign works. In 
a series of one hundred exquisitely drawn Plates, containing 
many hundred examples. By RorertNewbery. 4to. $15 00 

•JTICHOLSON.— A MANUAL OF THE ART OF BOOK-BINDING : 

Containing full instructions in the different Branches of For- 
warding, Gilding, and Finishing. Also, the Art of Marbling 
Book-edges and Paper. By James B. Nicholson. Illus- 
trated. 12mo., cloth $2 25 

■VTORRIS.— A HAND-BOOK FOR LOCOMOTIVE ENGINEERS AND 

1N MACHINISTS : 

Comprising the Proportions and Calculations for Constructing 
Locomotives ; Manner of Setting Valves ; Tables of Squares, 
Cubes, Areas, etc. etc. By Septimus Norris, Civil and Me- 
chanical Engineer. New edition. Illustrated, 12mo., cloth 

$2 00 



18 HENRY CAREY BAIRD'S CATALOGUE. 

■VTYSTSOM. — ON TECHNOLOGICAL EDUCATION AND THE 

iN CONSTRUCTION OF SHIPS AND SCREW PROPELLERS: 
For Naval and Marine Engineers. By John W. Ntstrom, late 
Acting Chief Engineer U. S. N. Second edition, revised with 
additional matter. Illustrated by seven engravings. 12mo. 

$2 50 

(YNEILL — CHEMISTRY OF CALICO PRINTING, DYEING, AND 

U BLEACHING : 

Including Silken, Woollen, and Mixed Goods ; Practical and 
Theoretical. By Charles O'Neill (In press.1 

Q'NEILL — A DICTIONARY OF CALICO PRINTING AND DYE- 
U ING: 

Containing a Brief Account of all the Substances and Processes 
in Use in the Arts of Printing and Dyeing Textile Fabrics ; with 
Practical Receipts and Scientific Information. By Charles 
O'Neill, Analytical Chemist, Fellow of the Chemical Society 
of London, etc. etc. Author of " Chemistry of Calico Print- 
ing and Dyeing." 8vo. (In press.) 

QVERMAN— OSBORN— THE MANUFACTURE OF IRON IN ALL 

U ITS BRANCHES : 

Including a Practical Description of the various Fuels and 
their Values, the Nature, Determination and Preparation of 
the Ore, the Erection and Management of Blast and other Fur- 
naces, the characteristic results of Working by Charcoal, 
Coke, or Anthracite, the Conversion of the Crude into the va- 
rious kinds of Wrought Iron, and the Methods adapted to this 
end. Also, a Description of Forge Hammers, Rolling Mills, 
Blast Engines, &c. &c. To which is added an Essay on the 
Manufacture of Steel. By Frederick Overman, Mining En- 
gineer. The whole thoroughly revised and enlarged, adapted 
to the latest Improvements and Discoveries, and the particular 
type of American Methods of Manufacture. With various 
new engravings illustrating the whole subject. By H. S. Os- 
born, LL. D. Professor of Mining and Metallurgy in Lafay- 
ette College. In one volume, 8vo. (In press.) . $10 00 

p\INTER, GILDER, AND VARNISHER'S COMPANION: 

Containing Rules and Regulations in everything relating to 
the Arts of Painting, Gilding, Varnishing, and Glass Staining, 
with numerous useful and valuable Receipts; Tests for the 
Detection of Adulterations in Oils and Colors, and a statement 
of the Diseases and Accidents to which Painters, Gilders, and 



HENRY CARET BAIRD'S CATALOGUE. 19 

Varnishera are particularly liable, with the simplest methods 
of Prevention and Remedy. With Directions for Graining. 
Marbling, Sign Writing, and Gilding on Glass. To which are 
added Complete Instructions for Coach Painting and Var- 
nishing. 12mo., cloth . . ... $1 50 

piLLETT— THE MILLER'S, MILLWRIGHT'S, AND ENGI- 

•*■ NEER'S GUIDE. 

By Henry Pallett. Illustrated. In one vol. 12mo. $3 00 

pERKTNS.— GAS AND VENTILATION. 

Practical Treatise on Gas and Ventilation. With Special Re- 
lation to Illuminating, Heating, and Cooking by Gas. Includ- 
ing Scientific Helps to Engineer-students and others. With 
illustrated Diagrams. By E. E. Perkins. 12mo., cloth $1 25 

pERKINS AND STOWE.— A NEW GUIDE TO THE SHEET- 
-*• IRON AND BOILER PLATE ROLLER : 

Containing a Series of Tables showing the Weight of Slabs and 
Piles to Produce Boiler Plates, and of the Weight of Piles and 
the Sizes of Bars to produce Sheet-iron; the Thickness of the 
Bar Gauge in Decimals ; the Weight per foot, and the Thick- 
ness on the Bar or Wire Gauge of the fractional parts of an 
inch ; the Weight per sheet, and the Thickness on the Wire 
Gauge of Sheet-iron of various dimensions to weigh 112 lbs. 
per bundle ; and the conversion of Short Weight into Long 
Weight, and Long Weight into Short. Estimated and collected 
by G. H. Perkins and J. G. Stowe . . . . $2 50 

pHILLIPS AND DARLINGTON —RECORDS OF MINING AND 
*■ METALLURGY : 

Or Facts and Memoranda for the use of the Mine Agent and 
Smelter. By J. Arthur Phillips, Mining Engineer, Graduate 
of the Imperial School of Mines, France, etc., and John Dar- 
lington. Illustrated by numerous engravings. In one vol- 
ume, 12mo $2 00 

pRADAL, MALEPEYRE, AND DUSSAUCE. — A COMPLETE 
-*- TREATISE ON PERFUMERY : 

Containing notices of the Raw Material used in the Art, and the 
Best Formulae. According to the most approved Methods fol- 
lowed in France, England, and the United States. By M. 
P. Pradal, Perfumer Chemist, and M. F. Malepeyre. Trans- 
lated from the French, with extensive additions, by Professor 
II. Dussauce. 8vo $10 00 



20 HENRY CAREY BAIRD'S CATALOGUE. 

pROTEAUX— PRACTICAL GUIDE FOR THE MANUFACTURE 
L OF PAPER AND BOARDS. 

By A. Proteaux, Civil Engineer, and Graduate of the School 
of Arts and Manufactures, Director of Thiers's Paper Mill, 
'Puy-de-Dorne. With additions, by L. S. Le Normand. 
Translated from the French, with Notes, by Horatio Paine, 
A. B., M. D. To which is added a Chapter on the Manufac- 
ture of Paper from Wood in the United States, by Henry T. 
Brown, of the "American Artisan." Illustrated by six plates, 
containing Drawings of Raw Materials, Machinery, Plans of 

Paper-Mills, etc. etc. 8vo $5 00 

•DEGNAULT— ELEMENrS OF CHEMISTRY. 

By M. V. Regnault. Translated from the French by T. 
Forrest Betton, M. D., and edited, with notes, by James C. 
Booth, Melter and Refiner U. S. Mint, and Wm. L. Faber, 
Metallurgist and Mining Engineer. Illustrated by nearly 700 
wood engravings. Comprising nearly 1500 pages. In two 
volumes, 8vo., cloth $10 00 

SELLERS— THE COLOR MIXER : 

Containing nearly Four Hundred Receipts for Colors, Pastes, 
Acids, Pulps, Blue Vats, Liquors, etc. etc., for Cotton and 
Woollen Goods: including the celebrated Barrow Delaine Co- 
lors. By John Sellers, an experienced Practical Workman. 

In one volume, 12mo. $2 50 

QNHUNK— A PRACTICAL TREATISE ON RAILWAY CURVES 
" .AND LOCATION, FOR YOUNG ENGINEERS. 

By Wm. F. Shunk, Civil Engineer. 12mo. . . $1 50 

QMEATON — BUILDER'S POCKET COMPANION: 

Containing the Elements of Building, Surveying, and Archi- 
tecture ; with Practical Rules and Instructions connected with 
the subject. By A. C. Smeaton, Civil Engineer, etc. In 
one volume, 12mo. . . . . . . . $1 25 

QMITH— THE DYER'S INSTRUCTOR: 

Comprising Practical Instructions in the Art of Dyeing Silk, 
Cotton, Wool, and Worsted, and Woollen Goods: containing 
nearly 800 Receipts. To which is added a Treatise on the Art 
of Padding ; and the Printing of Silk Warps, Skeins, and 
Handkerchiefs, and the various Mordants and Colors for the 
different styles of such work. By David Smith, Pattern 
Dyer. 12mo., cloth $3 00 



O 



O 



HENRY CARET BAIRD'S CATALOGUE. 21 

OMITH — PARKS AND PLEASURE GROUNDS : 

Or Practical Notes on Country Residences, Villas, Public 
Parks, and Gardens. By Charles II. J. Smith, Landscape 
Gardener and Garden Architect, etc. etc. 12mo. . $2 25 

OTOKES.— CABINET-MAKER'S AND UPHOLSTERER'S COMPA- 
° NION : 

Comprising the Rudiments and Principles of Cabinet-making 
and Upholstery, with Familiar Instructions, Illustrated by Ex- 
amples for attaining a Proficiency in the Art of Drawing, as 
applicable to Cabinet-work; The Processes of Veneering, In- 
laying, and Buhl-work ; the Art of Dyeing and Staining Wood, 
Bone, Tortoise Shell, etc. Directions for Lackering, Japan- 
ning, and Varnishing; to make French Polish ; to prepare the 
Best Glues, Cements, and Compositions, and a number of Re- 
ceipts particularly for workmen generally. By J. Stokes. In 
one vol. 12mo. With illustrations . . . . $1 25 

STRENGTH AND OTHER PROPERTIES OF METALS. 

Reports of Experiments on the Strength and other Proper- 
ties of Metals for Cannon. With a Description of the Machines 
for Testing Metals, and of the Classification of Cannon in ser- 
vice. By Officers of the Ordnance Department U. S. Army. 
By authority of the Secretary of War. Illustrated by 25 large 
steel plates. In 1 vol. quarto . . . . . $10 00 

CABLES SHOWING THE WEIGHT OF ROUND, SQUARE, AND 
■*• FLAT BAR IRON, STEEL, ETC., 

By Measurement. Cloth ...... 63 

rpAYLOR— STATISTICS OF COAL : 

Including Mineral Bituminous Substances employed in Arts 
and Manufactures; with their Geographical, Geological, and 
Commercial Distribution and amount of Production and Con- 
sumption on the American Continent. With Incidental Sta- 
tistics of the Iron Manufacture. By R. C. Taylor. Second 
edition, revised by S. S. Haldeman. Illustrated by five Maps 
and many wood engravings. 8vo., cloth . . . $5 00 



T 



3MPLET0N.— THE PRACTICAL EXAMINATOR ON STEAM 
AND THE STEAM-ENGINE: 

With Instructive References relative thereto, for the Use of 
Engineers, Students, and others. By Wm. Templeton, Engi- 
neer. 12mo $1 25 



22 HENRY CAREY BAIRD'S CATALOGUE. 

rPHOMAS.— THE MODERN PRACTICE OF PHOTOGRAPHY. 
By R. W. Tuomas, F. C. S. 8vo., cloth ... 75 

rpHOMSON.— FREIGHT CHARGES CALCULATOR. 

By Andrew Thomson, Freight Agent . . . $1 25 

mURNBULL.— THE ELECTRO-MAGNETIC TELEGRAPH : 

With an Historical Account of its Rise, Progress, and Present 
Condition. Also, Practical Suggestions in regard to Insula- 
tion and Protection from the effects of Lightning. Together 
with an Appendix, containing several important Telegraphic 
Devices and Laws. By Lawrence Tnrnbull, M. D., Lectu- 
rer on Technical Chemistry at the Franklin Institute. Revised 
and improved. Illustrated. 8vo. $3 00 

TiURNER'S (THE) COMPANION : 

Containing Instructions in Concentric, Elliptic, and Eccentric 
Turning; also various Plates of Chucks, Tools, and Instru- 
ments ; and Directions for using the Eccentric Cutter, Drill, 
Vertical Cutter, and Circular Rest; with Patterns and Instruc- 
tions for working them. A new edition in one vol. 12mo. 

$1 50 

LRICH— DUSSAUCE.— A COMPLETE TREATISE ON THE ART 
OF DYEING COTTON AND WOOL: 

As practised in Paris, Rouen, Mulhausen, and Germany. 
From the French of M. Louis Ulrich, a Practical Dyer in 
the principal Manufactories of Paris, Rouen, Mulhausen, etc. 
etc. ; to which are added the most important Receipts for Dye- 
ing Wool, as practised in the Manufacture Impe"riale des Go- 
belins, Paris. By Professor H. Duesauce. 12mo. $3 00 

TTRBIN— BRULL.— A PRACTICAL GUIDE FOR PUDDLING 

U IRON AND STEEL. 

By Ed. Urbin, Engineer of Arts and Manufactures. A Prize 
Essay read before the Association of Engineers, Graduate of 
the School of Mines, of Liege, Belgium, at the Meeting of 
1865 — 6. To which is added a Comparison of the Resisting 
Properties of Iron and Steel. By A. Brull. Translated 
from the French by A. A. Fesquet, Chemist and Engineer. In 
one volume, 8vo. . . . . . . . $1 00 

WATSON.— A MANUAL OF THE HAND-LATHE. 

By Egbert P. Watson, Late of the "Scientific American," 
Author of " Modern Practice of American Machinists and 
Engineers." In one volume, 12mo. (In press.) 



u 



HENRY CAREY BAIRD'S CATALOGUE. 23 



WATSON.— THE MODERN PRACTICE OF AMERICAN MA- 

VV CHINISTS AND ENGINEERS : 

Including the Construction, Application, and Use of Drills, 
Lathe Tools, Cutters for Boring Cylinders, and Hollow Work 
Generally, with the most Economical Speed of the same, the 
Results verified by Actual Practice at the Lathe, the Vice, and 
on the Floor. Together with Workshop management, Economy 
of Manufacture, the Steam-Engine, Boilers, Gears, Belting, etc. 
etc. By Egbert P. Watson, late of the " Scientific American." 
Illustrated by eighty-six engravings. 12mo. . . $2 50 

WATSON.— THE THEORY AND PRACTICE OF THE ART OF 

VV WEAVING BY HAND AND POWER: 

With Calculations and Tables for the use of those connected 
with the Trade. By John Watson, Manufacturer and Prac- 
tical Machine Maker. Illustrated by large drawings of the 
best Power-Looms. 8vo. . . . . . $7 50 

WE ATHERLY.— TREATISE ON THE ART OF BOILING SU- 
" GAR, CRYSTALLIZING, LOZENGE-MAKING, COMFITS, 
GUM GOODS, 

And other processes for Confectionery, &c. In which are ex- 
plained, in an easy and familiar manner, the various Methods 
of Manufacturing every description of Raw and Refined sugar 
Goods, as sold by Confectioners and others . . $2 00 

WILL.— TABLES FOR QUALITATIVE CHEMICAL ANALYSIS. 
By Prof. Heinrich Will, of Giessen, Germany. Seventh edi- 
tion. Translated by Charles F. IIimes, Ph. D., Professor of 
Natural Science, Dickinson College, Carlisle, Pa. . $1 25 

WILLIAMS.— ON HEAT AND STEAM : 

Embracing New Views of Vaporization, Condensation, and 
Expansion. By Charles Wye Williams, A. I. C. E. Illus- 
trated. 8vo $3 50 



LEMy' 13 



